Patience
by Pyrosi
Summary: In order to complete her mission, an assassin joins Fairy Tail in hopes of getting closer to her target. She doesn't know anything about the guild life, but she's about to find out as she's dragged along on many adventures, one after another, by her fellow guildmates. She tries to keep herself distant, but she doesn't realize what she's in for until she's in too deep.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** **First off, I'm an amateur writer, so don't expect much. You can leave criticism (as long as it's constructive), but anything offensive/insulting will be ignored. If you really don't like this fic that much, just close your tab. See? Problem solved. I probably won't respond to reviews unless I REALLY feel like it. The plot might follow the main storyline, or it might diverge. I might even use some arcs and not others. Who knows? 'Cause I don't. Some characters might be OOC (it's been a while since I've watched Fairy Tail). Update schedule is non-existent. I'll work on this whenever I have free time, but...uh...yeah. Anyways, this is my first fanfiction, so it'll be like an experiment.**

 **This will be a Female OC x Erza fic. Don't like it? Don't read it.**

 **Finally, any first-person narrative is from the point of view of my OC. Though I might add some third-person p.o.v. in the story for a better understanding of some details.**

"Speech"

'Thought'

 _Italics mean either flashback, dream, or emphasis_ (You'll know which one when the time comes; it'll be obvious…I hope)

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - New Target**

I requipped a dagger into my hand and sliced open the throat of the man lying beneath me. He made a gurgling noise and coughed up blood.

"You bitch," he managed to croak out as he drowned in his own blood. Soon enough, his eyes were devoid of life.

Six months is what it took to kill this corrupt mayor. I accepted this job because I thought it was gonna be easy. Little did I know was that his manor was heavily guarded. Not by your average sword-wielding knights, or your gun-wielding men in suits.

But by magic-wielding mercenaries.

It didn't help that one of them was adept in detecting magical auras, meaning I had to keep my magic hidden during the entire mission. I mean, as a maid, it would've been pretty suspicious.

For the first five months, I was only allowed to meet with the mayor's secretary. Afterwards, I was finally able to meet with him. After six months, I seemed to finally be trusted. And so, I convinced the mayor to go into town one night to visit the night markets he liked. I made sure to lose the guard that came with us in the crowd before taking the mayor into an alleyway and finishing the job.

I looked down at the body.

I grinned wickedly.

To think this was the guy who not only taxed the hell out of the town and used those taxes to pay dark guilds to do his dirty deeds, but also was in charge of a slavery ring. From what I gathered, which wasn't much, only children and young teenagers were enslaved and were sent to construct something for some wizard.

That was another reason why I took this job.

Even though I couldn't care less about what they were building, it was the slavery part that pissed me off. I absolutely despised slavery. The physical abuse from the slavers, being unfed and locked up, the emotional trauma that scarred a person for life.

It made me sick just thinking about it.

"You're one to talk," I murmured to myself.

I picked up the body and sneakily carried it through town, ducking into alleys and into shadows. The town was eerily quiet. I paused and looked at a house in front of me. With its crumbling stone foundation, cracks in its wooden walls, and broken windows, it reminded me of my old house. I was once again reminded of how poor this town was despite the festivals they held and everyone's smiling faces. I looked at the mayor's manor atop the hill at the edge of town one more time with disgust, and silently walked into the forest with a body on my shoulders.

I figured it was a good place to bury a body without it getting found.

After walking long enough, I set the body down in the perfect area and saw something in the corner of my eye. Under the moonlight, slightly swaying due to the wind, were the flowers that I was named after.

Asters.

I walked over, plucked one out of the ground, walked back to the body, and placed the purple flower on the man's chest.

I stared at the flower for a bit.

My trance was broken by the sound of footsteps rushing up from behind me. I quickly swerved around just in time to cross my arms and block a downwards slash from a sword using the metal wrist cuffs I always wore.

'Too strong,' I thought as I gritted my teeth. I was being pushed deeper into the dirt beneath my feet.

She yelled, "Now, Gray!"

I looked in the direction she yelled at, only to see a giant freakin' hammer made out of ice slam into me, knocking me off my feet and into a tree at least a dozen metres away.

I grunted after my not-so-soft landing and melted into the shadows. They chased after me and I could make out two figures: a shirtless guy and a girl in armor.

"Damnit," the girl cursed.

"Who was that?" the shirtless guy asked.

"I don't know. But the mayor's dead."

The guy sighed. "Let's bring him back to town and bury him later. Lucy found where the slaves were being kept. We need to go help free them.

"Alright. When we get back to the guild, we should discuss this with Master."

I came out of the shadows as soon as they left. I rubbed my aching side where the hammer hit and knew it was gonna be bruised tomorrow.

They looked like guild wizards that were on a mission, but I couldn't see their insignias correctly. I did, however, make out a striking detail about the girl.

She had scarlet hair.

"Just great," I muttered to myself. There was no way I was getting that body back since people were gonna be panicking left and right in town. That's an issue.

The request said to leave no evidence.

I think my pay just plummeted.

* * *

The girl in armor and her companion walked back to where the mayor was left. She noticed something on the mayor's chest.

Right on his disheveled tie was a purple flower.

"What's wrong?" the shirtless boy asked.

"Nothing," the girl responded. "Let's go."

The boy nodded, picked up the body, and they left for town.

* * *

I made a three hour trip back to the village I lived in. It would've been a lot longer if I wasn't using my Speed Magic most of the time. The village was located in a valley that was thick with trees. From the outside, the village was not visible due to the barriers set up by the village leaders. They needed to conceal their village for one reason and one reason only.

The only ones allowed to live in the village were assassins.

I passed through the barrier thanks to the necklace around my neck. Every assassin got one once they became a Beginner Assassin. Mine had a hexagon shaped amethyst hanging from the chain.

I walked down the stone path surrounded by luscious meadows and beautiful trees.

'Such a serene view for a village focused on killing,' I thought. Reaching the village entrance, I walked in and decided to take a bath first so I made my way towards my lodging. I passed by some kids playing while their mothers watched,

They all wore masks.

Most of the houses were either built using wood, stone, or both and were usually two stories. The place I was staying at was a stone, one story lodge. It wasn't very big but it had what I needed. A storeroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. I headed towards my destination.

In the bathroom, I looked in the mirror as I finished undressing. My long, toned, cream-colored legs were probably my best assets as my chest wasn't…as developed as other girls my age.

Not that I was jealous or anything. They got in the way of training, after all. They made your back hurt - from what I was told - and they slowed you down.

Right. Not jealous.

My hair wasn't its usual color. I had to dye it black since my original purple hair would've been too noticeable to pull off the recent assassination.

I even wore color-changing contacts to make my eyes look grey. Just to be sure.

Red eyes do stand out, after all.

After my bath, during which I finally got rid of that annoying hair dye, I got dressed in my usual clothes. I put on a plain, black bra and the same colored panties. I slipped on my black leggings, my metal wrist cuffs, and a long-sleeved black shirt. I stared at my necklace before putting it around my neck and tucking it into my shirt. My black, knee-length overcoat was hanging on the bathroom door, so I grabbed it and put it on. I buttoned up the top of the robe and strapped a grey belt around my waist. I tied my shoulder-length hair into a short ponytail and pulled on my hood. I put on my black, fingerless gloves and my black, grey trimmed cloak. I walked over to my front door, slipped into my tall, black boots and laced the front of each boot. I looked over to a shelf that was right beside the door. On it, was a full white mask that had a scar over the right eye. I grabbed it and put it on.

Finally ready, I was about to open the door when someone suddenly threw it open and crashed into me, giving me a bone-crushing hug. I looked up to see green locks of hair and instantly recognized who was suffocating me.

"Runi," I attempted to speak. "Let go. You're hurting me."

She released me from her arms. "Oh, sorry! And I told you to call me by my given name!"

It was common courtesy to call people by their last names in the village, but this girl was the only one I could consider a friend, so I usually called her by her given name in private. I smiled a bit. "Fine, Ella."

She squealed, "Yay!"

The girl in front of me was Ella Runi, a Junior Assassin - only one level above a Beginner - and my only friend. Like all assassins, she was trained to use Requip Magic, Strengthening Magic, and Speed Magic. But I knew that her primary magic was Iron-make Magic. At the age of twenty-one, only one year older than me, she was more than a few inches taller. Even though I was technically ranked above her, she always treated me like a little sister. She was wearing her usual outfit that consisted of a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the top, brown, baggy trousers that reached down to her shins, and a long, brown overcoat that reached her knees. Her overcoat didn't have any buttons so I was always reminded of how she was more developed in…that area. Her boots were the same as mine except they were brown. Her bangs were parted to the left and her long, wavy, emerald-colored hair cascaded down to her lower back. Her jade necklace hung from her neck. This girl was always hyperactive and nice. She played with the village kids and helped out wherever she could.

It always made me wonder how such a nice girl was able to kill so easily.

Even if she had so many redeeming qualities, I was always bothered by one thing.

She never wore a mask.

Not wearing a mask was risky. You were recognizable and easily tracked. Most of the people who didn't wear masks on their missions were killed. They weren't safe in the village either. Grudges often resulted in assassination attempts in the village, because the only law that existed here was to not go against the village leaders. It was hard to tell who was who if everyone was wearing similar masks and it didn't help that people often changed their attires. So those who didn't wear a mask, more often than not, were ironically assassinated.

"So, Aster, how was your mission?" she asked as her blue eyes sparkled in curiosity.

"It was okay, I guess," I told her. "The mayor was a sleazebag and it took a while before I was finally able to gain his trust."

"Oooh. So how'd you kill him?"

I made a hand gesture towards my throat and smirked. "Sliced right open."

She gave me a thumbs up. "Nice!"

"It was a well-deserved kill, though I ran into some problems at the end." I furrowed my brow and looked down a bit.

"What happened?"

"I…couldn't hide the body. In fact, it was even taken back to the town to be buried."

"WHAT!?" She then realized how loud she yelled and lowered her voice. "You'll get in trouble! You know how _he_ feels when a mission isn't done right."

I tried calming her down. "I know, I know. I'm on my way to discuss it with him right now."

"You want me to come with you?" she worriedly suggested.

"Nah, it's okay. I'll be fine."

"Alright. If you say so." She didn't sound too convinced.

I departed my lodge and looked back at Ella to see her standing in front of it. I waved at her.

She just stared at me with a sad smile on her lips.

I turned back around. 'Well then. Time to see how bad my punishment will be,' I thought to myself as I walked down the path that led to the giant temple at the edge of the village.

* * *

The temple looked pretty cool. White marble steps leading up to a grand archway that had a snake sculpted on it. Torch bowls lined up each side of the stairs. Right after passing through the arch, I was treated with the entrance to the temple that was comprised of a set of wooden doors. A large crow and a skull were clearly etched into each door. The top of the temple looked like a tower with a pointed top. The place had no windows and the rest of the building looked like an architect tried to hard and decided to make the stone placements as complex as possible.

I mean, at least it looked nice.

I always wondered, though, why an organization comprised of assassins chose a temple for one of their bases of operation.

Who were we worshipping, anyways?

I pushed open the doors, and walked into the main hall. The inside was less…pleasant than the outside.

Don't get me wrong. It does look kinda nice. What with all the torches mounted on the tall, stone pillars that reached the ceiling of the temple. Weapons mounted on the stone walls for those who needed to buy new ones. Round wooden tables were set around the hall. And the most noticeable decoration of all: a ten foot tall statue of a three-headed dog in the middle of the floor. The problem with the place was the atmosphere. Everyone was always on edge since everyone was an assassin.

I hated that tension.

I walked up to the counter near the back and addressed the man behind it. "I'm here to see the Doc."

He responded in a gruff voice. "Aster Lok. The Doc has been expecting you." He pointed me to a wooden door in the corner of the hall.

The Doc was the leader of the Fiore branch of the organization I belonged to. The organization didn't actually have a name 'cause it was better if the council didn't have a name to pin the blame on whenever someone was assassinated. We didn't want any recognition for what we did either. That said, we still had something called assassin's pride.

Especially me.

I took a lot of pride in killing difficult targets. It also gave me a huge sense of accomplishment.

As I was about to grab the handle of the door, it opened and out walked a man I didn't expect to see.

"Lok," he said in a monotone voice as he nodded.

"Master Sano," I responded while bowing a bit.

The man standing in front of me was a Master Assassin, the highest of the four ranks given to any assassin in the organization. If I recall correctly, there were currently only seven of them left, and it was rare enough to see one. No one ever saw what Master Sano looked like. He always wore a long, black cloak that reached the floor and was tied in the front. The only way people recognized him was from his black mask that had a blue line going through each eye.

All I really knew about him was that he assassinated a lot of important people. His targets ranged from guild masters to council officials. Missions weren't shared between assassins, but I asked the Doc out of curiosity what kind of missions Masters got, and he told me.

He continued walking and I stared at his back for a couple seconds before proceeding into the room.

The first thing I saw were shelves, shelves, and more shelves. Each one held an assortment of…body parts. I saw jars full of eyes, arms and legs with metal jutting out of them, and even a few skulls.

They were all real and they were all human.

I knew 'cause I asked the first time I saw them.

The Doc was sitting in the far left corner of the room at a desk, working on something I really didn't want to know about. Next to the desk was a door, though I didn't know where it led. He turned around and smiled his usual I-promise-not-to-kill-you-but-I-might-anyways smile.

He was in his usual attire. He wore a grey, button-up shirt with a red tie, black dress pants, and a white lab coat with oversized pockets. He also wore black-rimmed glasses with rectangular lenses.

His attire plus the room he was sitting in screamed "I'm a mad scientist."

He motioned me to the couch in the middle of the room. "Let's have a chat, shall we?" Though it sounded more like an order than a question.

I awkwardly sat there for a few moments before deciding to try and break the silence.

"So, uh, what did you want to chat about, exactly?" I asked nervously.

He instantly responded, "Oh I think you know."

"..."

When I didn't say anything, he continued. "The mayor you assassinated was worth what, like five million jewels? You had such a great streak going…I'm a bit disappointed, really. Need I remind you of what happens when you fail a mission?"

I flinched. The scars on my back ached, but I stayed silent.

He sighed. "To be fair, I guess it was only incomplete. Not a complete failure."

I sighed in relief.

"Although, no evidence means no evidence. The client was extremely unhappy when they found out. And if the client's unhappy, I'm unhappy."

I felt myself tensing up.

He sighed once more. "The client has agreed on a seventy percent deduction."

'Okay, that's not too bad,' I thought.

"But I still need to punish you."

"..." I was expecting that much, at least.

"No one is exempt from punishment." Suddenly, at a speed I couldn't even begin to comprehend, a needle was injecting some sort of fluid into my forearm. My eyes widened as I looked up to the blurry figure standing in front of me. He sighed for the last time. "I'll see you in a bit."

And then I fell unconscious.

* * *

I woke up and was greeted by darkness.

Moments later, I heard a loud creak as light flooded into the room and I saw the Doc standing in the doorway. He walked in, turned on the lights, and closed the door behind him.

I finally saw where I was.

I was in a metal chair that was hooked up to some machine in the middle of the room. My wrists and legs were cuffed to the chair and my upper body was strapped in.

I tried using my Shadow Magic to get out of the chair but it didn't work.

He seemed to notice my struggle and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't bother. Those cuffs restrict the wearer's magic."

I decided to look around the room and noticed a lot of…tools lying around.

By tools, I meant sharp, dangerous knives.

I felt a bead of sweat rolling down my temple. "You're... not gonna dissect me, are you?"

He seemed confused by my question. "Huh? Why would I do that?"

I looked over to the large cleaver hanging on the wall.

He followed my gaze and snickered. "Those are just for my little experiments. Your punishment is different." He moved to the back of the chair. "As soon as I get this wiring fixed up, we can start."

I was still a bit sedated, so I really couldn't tell what was going on until he stepped in front of me, seemingly done with whatever wiring he was fixing.

"You're going to help me test this new torture device," he said as he smiled wickedly.

My eyes widened, and I started struggling against my restraints.

As assassins, we've been trained to never disclose any information about anything if we were ever to be captured and tortured.

It still didn't mean that it didn't hurt, though.

He pulled out a remote with a switch on it. "Remember this pain. This is for discipline." He flipped the switch to turn the machine on.

And I finally found out what it did.

Pain shot through my entire body as I was electrocuted from head to toe. I struggled in vain against my restraints as the machine was turned off.

The Doc seemed to be contemplating something as he looked at me, or more specifically, the machine.

"Hold on," he told me. "I need to fix the output."

I heard some tinkering behind me and flinched in my seat when he came back into view.

"Alright. This one should hurt more," he promised.

'It's not like I want it to hurt mo-' My thoughts were interrupted by the shocks running through my body as the machine was switched on.

This time, I screamed.

The Doc kept the machine on for longer this time and I felt darkness creeping up on me as the pain was unbearable.

The electrocution stopped and so did my screams.

"Hmm…I think the device works well enough. I'll obviously do some fine tuning on my own later. In the meantime, your punishment isn't over yet."

I tried to look up at his face but couldn't.

My screams rang out for a while as I was electrocuted over and over.

After who knows how long, my throat dried up and my screams turned silent.

Soon enough, I passed out from the pain.

* * *

My eyes slowly opened and I instinctively shielded them from the light shining through a window.

I felt the softness under my body and it took some time to realize that I was lying in my own bed.

'I'm at home…?' I groggily thought as I looked around. I was wearing the clothes I passed out in.

I was still wearing my mask, so I took it off and put it next to my necklace on my nightstand.

By the looks of it, the sun was setting. I sat up to admire the orange-reddish light outside my window when my bedroom door opened.

"You're awake," Ella said quietly as her eyes widened. "Hold on…I'll go get you something to drink."

She quickly rushed out without bothering to turn on the lights.

After she came back and I downed a whole glass of water, I asked her, "What happened?"

She pulled up a stool next to the bed. "I was called to the Doc's office thinking I was going to get another mission." She smiled sadly at me. "Instead, he told me to take you home since he was done with you. You were unconscious and twitching on the couch."

"I see…thanks for taking me home, I guess."

I looked down at my arms to see them bandaged. I looked up and confusedly stared at Ella.

"You had electrical burns on your forearms," she responded to my silent question.

"Oh." I couldn't even remember getting them. "Thanks…again."

She wasn't finished. "I was really worried, you know." I turned to look at her. She bit her lip and I noticed the tears in her eyes.

I didn't really know what to say. "Sorry."

Her eyes were downcast as she said quietly, "Hey, can we run away?"

My eyes widened as I looked at her. "You know we ca-"

She looked up at me with tears freely flowing down her cheeks and her fists balling up on her lap. "I don't want to stay here anymore!" she yelled and then barely whispered, "I hate this place."

I couldn't find any words to comfort her. "I do too. But you know we can't just leave. We try to escape, we die. Even if we do manage to escape the village, we'll never be free. The organization will constantly send assassins after us."

She looked down again before quietly saying, "I know but I just…" She trailed off.

I lifted her head up and, using my fingers, I brushed the tears away from her eyes. "It'll be fine," I tried comforting her. I gave her a small smile which she returned.

She leaned forward and hugged me. "I'm just happy that you're okay."

I hummed in response.

We sat there in each other's embrace, not realizing how much time had passed until it got too dark to see.

She didn't say anything, and I didn't realize till later that this was the first time I showed her my face.

* * *

It was a few days after I recovered.

I was lying down in the meadow outside the village, trying to relax after some training. Even with my mask and hood on, the slight breeze felt nice.

'Too nice for a village of assassins,' I thought to myself as I closed my eyes to fully enjoy the pleasant weather.

I felt someone's presence above me and opened my eyes.

Blue eyes stared down at me.

"Hey," I greeted with a smile.

"Hi," Ella said back as she sat down beside me. "Tough day?"

"Ehh…training is training. If anything, it lets me vent."

She tilted her head and asked, "Are you stressed?"

"Just anxious. Wondering what my next mission will be."

"Oh, speaking of missions." I turned to her and her face lit up as she talked. "I just received my next one!"

Even though she couldn't see it, my eyes widened. "Is it…?"

She seemed to know what I was gonna ask. "Yep. It's my rank-up mission. If I successfully complete this, I'll be promoted to a Senior Assassin, so I'll be the same rank as you!" she exclaimed with a little twinkle in her eyes. She then mockingly added, "I just hope that I don't trip and fall into a mud puddle on the way back to the village afterwards."

I turned back to the sky and frowned a bit. "Hey, that was one time! Remind me again. How long have I been a Senior Assassin?"

She pouted and then murmured, "About three and a half years."

"So I'm still the senior Senior," I somewhat proudly stated before inwardly cringing at how bad my joke was.

She giggle a bit before saying, "That was horrible, and you know it."

"Yeah, I know." I buried my face in my hands in embarrassment before continuing our earlier conversation. "Then again, two and a half years is nothing compared to how much time people spend to get to Master."

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right."

"People usually don't survive long enough to become a Master, and I've heard that those who have been promoted were Seniors for decades."

"..."

I looked back at her.

She was longingly gazing at the edge of the valley, in the opposite direction of the village.

I stayed silent as I stared at her, getting lost in my own thoughts.

"Hey," she said as she suddenly stood up, breaking me out of my stupor. She now stood in front of me. "Do you know why I love meadows so much?"

This was new. "No," I responded as I sat up.

She turned around so that her back was facing me. "They're so peaceful. Something I wish my life was."

"..." I barely caught that second part since she whispered it so quietly.

She faced me again. "Don't you wish that everyday could be like this?"

"Sometimes." I looked past her. It was nearing the end of the day and the sun was setting behind her.

"I'll be leaving tomorrow for the mission," she stated. "It'll probably only take a few weeks."

"Good luck," I wished her. "Though you probably don't need it. You're pretty good."

A soft smile graced her lips as she sat back down on my right. She leaned her head on my shoulder and started humming a tune I didn't know.

We simply sat there for a while longer, enjoying each other's company and basking in the remaining sunlight before its source disappeared over the horizon.

* * *

It was a couple weeks after Ella left.

I was walking to the temple to see if they had any new weapons when I saw a peculiar sight.

The Doc was outside of his lab…taking a walk.

He saw me and jogged towards me with his hands in his oversized pockets.

I wondered how he never got hot in that stupid lab coat, but then I remembered that he never really left his lab unless there was an emergency.

He stopped jogging and stood in front before greeting me.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite Senior Assassin, Lok." I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"Is that sarcasm?" I bluntly asked.

"Of course not," he assured. "You are one of the most successful Seniors here, after all."

I still didn't know why he left the temple, so I decided to ask, "Did you want something from me?"

He stared at me for a second with a frown on his face before saying, "You should probably head to the temple's infirmary."

I felt dread creeping up on me.

"Why?"

What he said next made my eyes widen in shock.

"Runi failed her mission."

* * *

I was sprinting to the temple while using my Speed Magic.

My mind flashed back to what the Doc said.

 _I couldn't believe my ears. "What?" I quietly asked._

" _Apparently, she was interrupted by several dark guilds," he started to respond to my confused and shocked expression. "Her mission was to assassinate a wealthy merchant in a large town. The dark guilds raided the town and killed a lot of people."_

" _What dark guilds?"_

" _Apparently, they all worked for one of the bigger dark guilds, Oración Seis. One of them was recognized to be a guild called Naked Mummy. No one recognized the other two."_

 _I had to ask. "Is she okay?"_

" _Well…"_

I finally reached the temple and jumped the steps two at a time. I threw open the doors, turning a few heads on the inside, and rushed to the infirmary wing on the right side of the building.

I slowed down as I entered the room that was my destination. I looked around and saw her lying in a bed at the other side of the room.

I rushed over and saw how badly she was injured.

She had bandages wrapped around her entire upper body and bandages going across her right eye.

The amount of dried blood was unsettling.

I glared at the nurse nearby and snarled, "What happened to her!?"

The nurse, her voice monotone, replied, "Multiple gunshot wounds, slash wounds on the chest and the eye." She walked away after that.

I kneeled down next to her bed and clasped her left hand in both of mine.

She opened her eye.

"Aster?" Her voice was quiet and rasp.

"Ella, I'm here…I'm here…" I tried to talk to her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized as she tried to smile. "It doesn't look like I'll be joining your rank.

"That's fine," I tried reassuring her. "You can do it next time."

I could already feel the tears rolling down my cheeks.

What she said next broke my heart.

"You and I both know that there won't be a next time."

I knew.

I knew all too well how severe her injuries were.

She held out her right hand to me, her jade necklace sitting on it.

"Here." She beckoned me to take it. "I want you to have it."

I shakingly took it from her. And for the second time in the eleven years I'd known her, I took off my mask.

I tried cracking a smile.

"Hey," I started. "Don't talk like that. You still need to reach my level, right?"

She stayed silent.

I choked back a sob. "Please don't go," I pleaded as I looked down.

"Your…birthday," she started to speak again and I whipped my head up to look at her. "It passed when you were on that long mission. I…left you a present. I worked on it for a whole year and a half. It's…under your bed. I wish I could see your reaction when you open it. I think…I think you'll like it."

I could see the light fading from her eyes.

"No…don't leave yet," I begged her. "Please."

She stared at the ceiling and slowly raised her right hand upwards as if trying to grasp something before managing to speak.

At this point, she was barely audible.

"It's…so very peaceful…here."

The slightest smile dawned her face.

My sobs grew louder and louder.

That night, I cried myself to sleep without an ounce of shame.

* * *

For the first month and a half, I was depressed.

There was no funeral. We didn't have those in the village.

What we did have was a cemetery, and I visited it almost every day.

It was where Ella was laid to rest, after all.

After my depression, I started to put all of my energy into my training.

All of my frustrations.

All of my stress.

And all of my tears.

Every day was the same. I would train until I collapsed from exhaustion, visit Ella, lie down in the meadow, take a shower at home, eat dinner, then sleep.

Today was no different.

The training grounds had several fields. There were buildings to practice assassinations or escapes, a forest to practice your maneuverability, and simple fields for target practice.

I headed to the last one.

The grounds were surprisingly really organized. Multiple people were allowed to book a field for an hour and a half and you were allowed to extend those hours if no one was waiting in line.

I went and signed my name in before entering the field full of moving targets. I didn't really understand the mechanisms behind it and I never questioned them.

I broke into a sprint around the targets as I requipped a dagger in each hand. I threw them both at the same target, nailing it in the head and the chest. Requipping more daggers in my hands, I repeated the process, even mixing my Shadow Magic to practice sneak attacks.

I requipped my daggers away and replaced them with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. The bow was made out of a light metal and so were the arrows.

When I drew an arrow back, I imbued it with my shadows, and when I shot, it snaked around the targets until hitting the farthest one.

After practicing with my bow, I requipped it and the quiver away, and formed my shadows into a spear.

I threw my shadow spear and, like my arrows, it snaked around, going through the moving targets, before coming back to me.

My shadows weren't always physical. Whenever I hit a person with a shadow spear, it either hit them like a train, or drained some of their magic and energy. If it drained them, I could replenish my own when it came back to me.

My luck was pretty good today. No one came to use the field so I was able to get another session in.

After my training, I went to the cemetery.

We didn't have tombstones, but I remembered where she was buried.

I walked along the dirt until I stopped at the farthest burial from the entrance.

I kneeled on the ground in front of it and requipped Ella's gift onto my lap.

It was a sword. I unsheathed it from its purple scabbard and held it vertically in front of me.

It truly was beautiful.

Its jade blade shined in the sunlight. My eyes travelled down the sword, past its non-existent cross-guard, and to its grip. It was wrapped in leather that was dyed red. Finally, the pommel was diamond-shaped and contained an amethyst.

I silently prayed in front of the grave until my knees started to get tired.

I decided to skip the meadow today and went straight home.

My shower was short and so was my dinner. I just went to my lacrima-powered fridge, pulled out some beef stew that I cooked a couple days ago, and reheated it.

Afterwards, I changed into my sleepwear, consisting of a plain red shirt and black shorts, and went straight to bed.

* * *

I didn't wake up to the sound of birds chirping, and I didn't wake up to the sunlight shining through my window.

I woke up to a call that came through the lacrima that sat on my nightstand.

I groggily sat up, took the lacrima in my hands, and answered it.

"Lok, the Doc has a mission for you," said a gruff voice before hanging up.

I sighed before slowly getting out of bed and starting my morning routine.

I took my necklace off my nightstand and put it on.

It now had an amethyst and a jade stone hanging from it.

After getting dressed in my usual outfit, I cooked breakfast. It was a simple eggs and toast since I probably didn't have the time to cook anything better.

Soon enough, I had my mask on and was out the door.

It was still dark out.

I ran, using my Speed Magic, to the temple. After entering, I quickly made my way to the door at the back.

I walked into the brightly lit room with the Doc sitting at his desk, facing the door as if he was expecting me, which he was.

I sat down on the couch and decided to speak first.

"So, Doc, you have a mission for me?"

"How do you feel about the guild life?" he randomly asked.

"Huh?"

"Guild life," he repeated.

"Uh, I don't know, I've never thought about it before." My mind flashed back to the day Ella died and my fists clenched.

"Well, for this assassination, looks like you'll be joining a legal guild called Fairy Tail."

"Never heard of them."

He sighed. "Well, we don't get news here so that's probably why. They're always in them."

"So where is this guild, anyways?"

"Magnolia."

"Huh…never been around that area before."

"You're to infiltrate the guild by blending in, get close to the target, then kill her. Don't kill anyone else. Can't have too many people dying or else people will get suspicious. Understand?"

"You got it." I was getting tired of this conversation. "So who's the target?" I asked as I crossed one leg over the other to get more comfortable.

He placed a picture of a person onto the table.

"A woman named Erza Scarlet."

* * *

 **Second A/N:** **Thanks for reading the first chapter. You can review, follow, favorite, whatever you want. This'll probably be one of the longer chapters in this series. (About 6.4k words)**

 **See you all in the next one.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** **Welcome to chapter 2. I realize how bad I am at descriptions, so bear with me (though I can't guarantee that it'll improve…I'm not very imaginative when it comes to that). So, in this story, I've decided to definitely include the Tower of Heaven Arc (duh), the Fantasia Arc, the Oración Seis Arc, the Tenrou Arc, and the GMG Arc. Obviously, certain changes will be made to each arc to fit the story to my liking. This list might change later on, but who knows.**

"Speech"

'Thought'

 _Italics mean either flashback, dream, or emphasis_ (It should be obvious enough; I'll remove this little note after another chapter…probably)

 **Nothing else to say here…hope you enjoy the chapter?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Magnolia**

'Aren't there a ton of magic guilds in Fiore? Why Fairy Tail?' I asked myself in my head.

As if he was reading my mind, the Doc answered my silent question.

"Apparently, Fairy Tail is the strongest legal magic guild in Fiore, and the client wants to weaken them before they get out of control."

"Who's the client?" I tried.

"..."

"I thought so."

"Remember. You have to earn the target's trust. That means that this mission will probably run for a long time. Rumor has it that this woman is hard to break."

"Is she the master?" I asked.

"No."

"Huh?" I was bit confused. "Why not aim for the master?"

He frowned a bit before responding. "Even our Master Assassins would have trouble assassinating a Wizard Saint."

"Oh. I guess that's true."

I've heard about these Wizard Saints. Apparently, they were chosen by the Magic Council to be ten of the most powerful mages in Fiore.

I would've been lying if I said that having one as a master didn't sound just a bit scary.

I decided to question him some more.

"So, is there a reason why this 'Erza Scarlet' was chosen in particular?"

"Apparently, she's one of their S-class mages and sort of like a drill sergeant in the guild. The client hopes that the guild will fall apart after her death, or at least be close to falling apart."

"I see."

We discussed more details about the mission until I figured we were done.

I grabbed the picture and started to get up.

"Make it look like an accident. It's easier to deal with it that way." He paused. "One last thing. The council likes to keep an eye on Fairy Tail since the guild's on their bad side, so be careful," he warned.

"Anything else?" I was already on my way to the door.

"Leave right away. The darkness should cover you until you reach a safe distance away from the village."

* * *

There was a slight problem.

I had no idea where and in which direction Magnolia was.

"I can't exactly ask anyone, and I don't really wanna go back to the Doc," I muttered to myself.

That was until I noticed a figure moving towards the entrance to town.

I recognized who it was immediately, and I decided to take a shot.

I nervously walked up to the figure and asked,

"Master Sano. Do you happen to know the way to Magnolia?"

* * *

I stared at the map on my kitchen table.

"He actually drew me a map…" I quietly said in disbelief.

I decided to look at it later and requipped it away.

I seriously regretted not learning how to change my clothes using Requip Magic. I was able to requip the clothes in my hand, but then I needed to change normally.

In the end, I decided to just pack my assassin outfit in my luggage and use my requip space for more weapons.

After reapplying the bandages on my forearms, I went to my wardrobe and tried to find an outfit that would not only let me fit in, but also let me fight if needed.

I decided on wearing a red, button-up, short-sleeved shirt with a beige, unzipped vest over it. The vest had a fur collar and only reached below my chest area; I had pockets fashioned on the sides where knives could be stored and on the inside, small loops were used for holding hidden throwing daggers. I wore a red velvet skirt that reached just above my knees. On each thigh, hidden under the skirt, I had a strap with loops on it to hold more daggers.

I did plan on keeping my Requip Magic a secret from the guild, so carrying weapons on me was a must.

I went to the bathroom to dye my hair black, but this time, I had streaks of red hair as well. I put on color changing lenses that changed my eyes to grey.

I looked in the mirror.

My bangs were swept to the left and my hair was curled a bit outwards at the ends.

All in all, I had to admit one thing.

I looked kinda strange.

"Whatever," I muttered while heading to the storeroom in my house.

I walked in and started requipping a lot of knives, swords, bows, and spears that I've collected over the years. I saw a two flintlock pistols and some ammo on one of the shelves and decided to take it with me.

'Could come in handy later on,' I thought.

After requipping enough weapons, and making sure I had enough jewels in my requip space, I went to the front door with my luggage and put on a pair of brown, leather boots that reached my lower shin and were laced in front. I put on a brown cloak and some black wrist guards.

I didn't even notice that I had my mask on the entire time.

After double-checking everything, I left my small lodge and walked to the village entrance.

It was a full moon that night and it illuminated the path in front of me.

My footsteps were silent as I reached the village entrance.

I sighed deeply and took a step forward.

My long journey was just beginning.

* * *

I looked up from the map.

I looked back at it.

I looked up again.

"This map is utter crap," I said to no one in particular.

I had no idea where anything was on the horribly drawn sketch of what was supposed to be a map of the surrounding area outside of the valley.

That was where I was standing.

I looked around and then gave the map a hard stare and started to mutter to myself, trying to figure out where I was supposed to go.

"Okay, so that's the nearest town…at least I think it is. What else could a bunch of squares represent? I think that's the valley." I stared at a literal circle drawn on the center of the 'map' which was surrounded by smaller circles with lines coming out of them. "These…bendy lines must be the mountain range…I hope. So, the circles with the lines are the trees part of the forest!"

Feeling proud of myself for finally decrypting the so-called map, I looked at the drawn mountain range, then to the drawn town, then to the actual mountain range.

On the map, the valley was in between the mountain range and the town, so they were in opposite directions.

Luckily, Master Sano was kind enough to write down which direction was north on the map, so I figured out that the town was just southeast from the forest edge.

I requipped the map away, grabbed my luggage that I had set down, and prepared myself for the long trek.

I took off into the woods.

* * *

Instead of using my Speed Magic to run through the forest like I normally did, I decided to calmly walk through it since it was gonna be my last time seeing it for a while.

'The mission isn't going anywhere,' I thought.

The tree density was pretty high so the overhead leaves didn't allow any moonlight to shine through.

I was basically walking in total darkness.

Which was fine by me. After all, darkness was my territory. It was basically just one giant shadow.

I smiled slightly.

'I love the dar-' My thoughts were cut off by the snap of a twig to my left.

A shiver went down my spine as I slowly turned my head over to the source of the noise.

There was nothing there.

I sighed in relief.

I hated ghosts.

Ghosts scared the crap out of me.

I started walking again, albeit a little faster than before.

I suddenly remembered a conversation with the Doc when he told me that the village had used Illusion Magic on the forest to keep out curious, unwanted visitors or explorers. I mean, the illusions still affected us assassins, but anyone, who didn't belong to the organization, always found themselves back where they started after entering the forest. Us assassins were taught how to navigate our way through the illusions.

I heard another snap and I stopped.

It was directly behind me.

"It's just an illusion. It's just an illusion," I tried reassuring myself.

I heard shallow breathing behind me.

This was, surprisingly, the first time I walked through the forest. Every other time, I simply ran through the area. And so I never realized how realistic these illusions were.

I suddenly bolted into the direction I was walking in using my Speed Magic.

"It's not real…it's not real…" Another snap. "It's still scary…it's still scary!"

My rule was, as an assassin, I was only trained to deal with the living, so ghosts were a no-thanks-and-run-away sort of thing.

Ella always liked to tease me with ghost stories when we were younger.

I stopped for a brief moment to catch my breath and made the mistake of turning around. I saw a dark figure hiding behind a tree, seemingly staring at me.

I blinked.

The figure moved.

It was peering from behind a different tree.

A closer tree.

I turned back around and ran even faster than before.

I heard a cackle behind me.

This time, I didn't look back.

* * *

Finally reaching the edge of the forest, I stopped to catch my breath.

I still felt the shivers down my spine.

Never again was I gonna walk through that forest.

I kept my hood on, but I took off my mask and requipped it away.

I could see the town in the distance, and I began my trek towards it.

* * *

The town was…dreary, to say the least.

I walked along the cracked cobblestone path as I looked around at the stores and restaurants that lined up on the side of the street.

I seemed to be in the market district.

They all seemed really worn down, as if no one bothered to try and maintain them.

The streets were almost empty. Besides me, there were a couple adults here and there, minding their own business.

One of them entered a pub I was about to pass by.

Most pubs I've seen or been to were loud, but this one was quiet.

I entered the residential district to find houses on one side of the street, and what looked like apartment buildings on the other.

This part of town didn't look any better than the last.

The houses all looked to be one-story, and had a lot of missing roof tiles. Some even had broken windows.

The apartments looked slightly better, if that was saying anything.

They were all constructed using brick, but I saw cracks in a lot of them and the paint was coming off, making them look more haunted than pleasing.

I hurriedly made my way to the train station.

Due to my impeccable timing, the train arrived just as I got to the station.

The train looked all rusty and broken down, but this was the only one that would take me straight to Magnolia without any stops in between.

A man who had an ugly scar across his forehead and looked as if he hadn't slept for weeks was the one selling train tickets.

I quickly paid for mine and got on the train near the back.

"Damn depressing town," I muttered under my breath.

I found an empty seat and sat down next to the window with my luggage beside me.

Actually, now that I looked around, a lot of the other seats in this part of the train were empty.

I disregarded that thought as I was too tired to come up with an explanation.

I looked out through the window at the night sky.

'Magnolia better be less depressing than this crap,' I thought before slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

I awoke to the sound of people yelling.

I sat up straight, stretched my arms and let out a loud yawn.

'How long was I asleep?' I wondered.

I looked outside the window and saw that the sun had risen, so I was most likely out for a few hours.

All of a sudden, the railroad car shook and I heard an explosion near the front of the train.

That was when the train stopped.

I looked around and noticed that everyone had already left. I quickly followed, carrying my luggage with me. Once out, I pulled aside a panicking stranger and asked what was going on.

"A d-dark guild's trying to kill everyone…the army came to help but they're not strong enough!" he screamed before running off.

I raised my eyebrow. A dark guild?

Another explosion.

I turned my head towards the front of the train as I heard screaming and yelling. I grabbed my luggage and dove into the shadows. I travelled alongside the train until I reached the scene.

Bodies belonging to citizens and the army were strewn all over the ground.

About fifteen or so people were dressed in the same uniform, all of them carrying a variety of weapons. They also had some lacrymas which I guessed were the cause of the explosions.

I stifled a laugh as I stared at their somewhat matching hairstyles. All of them had a spike of hair coming out of the front which looked absolutely ridiculous.

Their guild mark was what looked to be like an upside down pentagon with some sort of symbol in it. It wasn't one of the ones I knew.

They looked like they were about to detonate another one of those lacrymas to destroy the next car, so I jumped out and threw a dagger into the lacryma, rendering it useless.

"Who the hell are you?" one of them demanded.

I didn't answer as I softly put my luggage on the ground.

Instead, I gave them two options.

"Surrender and live. Resist and die," I adamantly said while pulling out two knives from my vest.

In all honesty, I knew which one they were gonna choose, but I thought that, as a soon-to-be light wizard…

I smirked as I was suddenly rushed by four of them, all holding some sort of melee weapon.

The first came up on my right. I sidestepped a downwards hammer swing that was aimed for my head and used one of my knives to disarm the attacker.

By disarm, I meant severing his hands and making him scream in pain.

As blood spurted from the wound, I raised my right leg and kicked him away before turning to my other opponents. I ducked as a sword meant to behead me flew over and I threw one of my knives at the one responsible.

"GAH!" he yelled out as the knife lodged itself in his stomach.

From my crouched position, I jumped at him and grabbed the handle of my knife. I pulled it out and stabbed him again, this time in the chest.

I saw one of his buddies trying to sneak up behind me with an axe, so I quickly returned the knife in my left hand to its rightful pocket and pulled out a throwing dagger from the inside of my vest. I threw it behind me with extreme precision and nailed the guy between the eyes. I turned my attention back to the man in front and pulled my blood-stained knife out of his chest, letting him fall to the ground with a thud.

'And that's three,' I thought as I turned to the fourth.

He was sweating profusely and his sword was trembling. He looked absolutely terrified.

And I couldn't help but enjoy it all.

"You know…all you have to do is throw your weapon down and call it quits," I told him. "If you don't wanna die, that is."

That threat seemed to do the trick as he threw down his sword and raised his hands in the air, clearly surrendering.

I formed a shadow spear in my hand and threw it straight through his head, rendering him unconscious.

I looked at the rest of the group.

All of them were petrified.

I mean, I didn't blame them. I did effortlessly take out four of their guys, after all.

I smirked. "How about the rest of you?"

One after another, they started dropping their weapons. I started walking around, tying their hands and feet together to prevent them from escaping.

I looked around at the scene before me. Blood was splattered on the dirt I was standing on, but I didn't really mind.

I suddenly felt a presence behind me and spun around, only to be met by a sword, inches away from my face.

I stared at my attacker.

Scarlet hair was the first thing I noticed.

'The girl from the woods.'

"Care to explain what's going on?" she demanded with a stern look as I slowly raised my arms in an act of surrender.

As I carefully explained the situation, I took notice of the girl's attire. Her upper body was fully covered by armor besides the underside of her upper arms. She was also wearing a blue skirt and black boots. Her breastplate had a gold cross with forked tips at the end of each arm aside from the lower one, which beared a heart. Heart Kreuz seemed to be an extremely popular fashion brand amongst girls. Branded underneath the Heart Kreuz symbol was what I recognized - from the information that I was given - to be the Fairy Tail symbol. Her long, scarlet hair reached down to her waist and I could see her brown eyes scrutinizing my every move.

'Impeccable timing,' I thought to myself.

My target just showed up in front of me.

After I finished my story, in which I tried to justify that killing some of the dark guild members was necessary,she finally lowered her sword, and I lowered my arms.

"Alright then. Your story seems believable. So why were you heading to Magnolia?"

"I was looking to join a magic guild and I heard that there was a strong one in that town."

She smiled triumphantly before proudly saying, "Well, our notoriety has spread across Fiore."

"You're a member?" I asked in fake astonishment.

"Of course. My name is Erza Scarlet, S-class mage of Fairy Tail. May I ask for your name?"

People in the organization were untraceable, so I didn't mind giving it to her. "My name's Lok." I still wouldn't give out my first name to just anybody, though.

"Well then. After we turn in these criminals, why don't I show you the way to our guild so you can join?"

"Really? I'd appreciate that."

"Sure. You do seem plenty strong. I'm sure Master wouldn't mind."

Apparently, some of the escaping citizens ran to the nearby town and told the rune knights about the situation, so they came to the scene and saved us the trouble. We explained the situation to them and they let us off.

Erza told me to follow her, so I grabbed my luggage and walked after her.

We decided to enter town and take a different train to Magnolia as the one I was just on wouldn't be running anymore for obvious reasons.

I attempted to make small talk. "So what town are we in?"

"Shirotsume."

"Huh."

"What's Fairy Tail like?" I tried again.

"Rowdy."

"...huh."

I gave up after that and decided to just walk in silence.

I contemplated trying to kill her now, but that would've been risky. Considering how strong she was, there was a high chance of me losing.

I had to bide my time.

* * *

The trip to Magnolia was pure silence. We were both fine with it, though…I think.

Magnolia itself was…lively, livelier than any other town I've ever visited.

"It sure is lively here," I voiced my thoughts while looking at the bustling citizens.

Practically everyone was smiling.

"Magnolia is a very peaceful town," my scarlet-haired companion decided to say.

We continued along the cobblestone path until we reached an impressive looking structure. A rectangular shaped building with four cylindrical towers attached at each corner and a small bell tower at the very top of the entrance-side of the building stood tall in front of me.

The girl next to me noticed that it piqued my interest.

"That's the Kardia Cathedral," she informed me. "It's one of Magnolia's most famous and distinctive landmarks."

"I can see why," I quietly said as I stared in awe at the bell tower.

We kept walking past the cathedral until we almost reached the lakefront.

The armor-clad girl stopped and turned to me.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!" she declared.

"Huh?"

I looked around. We were standing in front of what looked like a construction site, where people were moving lumber from one place to another.

"Um," I started. "Don't guilds have a guildhall or something?"

"This is it right here," she responded.

"Uh, where?"

"Here."

"Again…where?"

My confusion seemed to stump her as she cocked her head to the side.

"Oh," she finally said with realization. "Our guild was attacked by another guild called Phantom Lord."

She began to tell me about their fight against their rival guild, and how Phantom Lord's real goal was to kidnap some girl who was the heiress of Heartfilia Konzern who had joined Fairy Tail. I listened attentively throughout the whole story since I was honestly intrigued by the idea of a war between two wizard guilds.

"In the end, we won the war, but the guildhall was destroyed, so we're rebuilding it."

"I see. One question though." I sent her a contemplative look. "Who's idea was it to hide the rich girl in a safehouse far from the battle? Wouldn't it have been safer to keep her near most of the other members so they could keep an eye on her? Keeping her far away with only a couple other members is just asking to get abducted again," I stated my opinion.

I noticed a white-haired girl sneezing in the corner of my eye.

'I wonder if she's sick,' I thought.

"Nevermind that." I turned my attention back to the girl I was talking to as she dismissed my thoughts. "Anyway, are you going to join the guild now? Or later?"

"Hmm…I guess I wanna settle in first. Find somewhere to live and all that."

"Is that so. Well, you're always welcome back here when you want to join. Just ask someone to call the Master over and he will most likely let you in."

"Thanks again, Scarlet."

She raised an eyebrow at that.

I bid her farewell as I walked back into town to find somewhere convenient to live.

* * *

Forget convenient. I needed somewhere with privacy.

Every place I tried was too loud. Too noisy. Too crowded.

I needed a place with peace and quiet.

As I walked towards the east side of town, I thought back to the day's events. Out of all the missions I had been on, I never had to join a guild. I just hoped that my behavior was acceptable for a soon-to-be guild member.

'Erza Scarlet, huh,' I wondered to myself. I remembered the Doc's words about making it look like an accident.

An opportunity was sure to come some day.

Hopefully.

I looked up and realized how late it was getting. That, and my stomach started rumbling, indicating that I hadn't eaten dinner yet.

I walked into the nearest restaurant and sat down at a table near the window. A waiter hurried over to give me a menu which I took one look at before ordering a seafood dish.

When the waiter returned with my food some time later, I decided to ask for some advice.

"Excuse me, sir," I started to say. "Do you know of any houses or apartments in an area that's relatively quiet around here?"

"There are some secluded houses for sale near the East Forest," he replied with a smile as he set my dinner on the table. "Are you planning on moving here?"

I nodded as I hungrily stared at the food in front of me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that his smile was wider than before.

"Welcome to Magnolia, then!" he happily said before leaving to tend to other tables.

Even though he couldn't see me, I nodded again before digging in.

* * *

I let out a satisfied sigh as I walked away from the restaurant. They served some good food.

I made a mental note to come back and check out the rest of their menu.

I headed east like the waiter told me and found myself near the forest edge. There weren't many houses so it was quite a secluded area.

I passed by some that weren't for sale until I came across what looked like the perfect house.

Just on the edge of the forest sat a one-story brick house that looked like it was just built yesterday.

I went up to it and knocked on the wooden door. Not a minute later, a man answered.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I noticed the 'For Sale' sign up front and was wondering if I could look around the house," I told him.

He smiled before moving out of the way and motioning me to come inside.

Apparently, the house was already furnished since the man and his wife thought it was a hassle to move all of the furniture to their new living space.

I walked inside and noticed that the walls and floor were made out of wood. I walked down the hallway until I reached what looked like the kitchen in front of me, the living room to my right, and another hallway to my left. I briefly glanced into the living room and saw a dark blue couch, a black coffee table, and a brick fireplace, all resting on a large, grey carpet. I decided to move along to the kitchen and, again, briefly looked into it. It seemed proper enough so I turned to the hallway which I assumed led to the bedroom.

As I was walking, I passed by two other doors. One of which was the bathroom, which looked clean, and the other was apparently an extra room that was currently empty since the owners couldn't find a use for it.

I finally reached the end of the hallway where I opened the door. I was greeted by a spacious room illuminated by the fading sunlight shining through the large window which had its curtains drawn back. In one corner was a bed large enough to fit two people. Next to it was a nightstand with a lacrima-powered lamp. In another corner was a large closet, and next to it, by the window, was a chair and a desk that sat parallel to the wall.

I nodded in approval as I turned back around and walked back down the hallway. I then noticed that next to the kitchen was a dining room. Four chairs sat around a table, all made out of polished wood. Behind all that was a sliding glass door that presumably led to the back of the house. I opened it and stared outside. I saw the forest line but that didn't matter much to me. What mattered was in between the house and the forest.

A large, beautiful meadow stretched from the paved area I stood on, all the way to the forest.

The owner walked up behind me and asked, "So, do you like it?"

He probably already knew my answer just from the way I was admiring the scene before me, but, with an elated smile, I confirmed it for him anyway.

"It's perfect."

* * *

 **A/N:** **By the time this chapter is out, I should have already started working on chapter three. The Tower of Heaven Arc will probably start soon. By the way, thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites on the first chapter…I actually didn't expect to get any right off the bat.**

 **See you in the next chapter, whenever that is.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** **I think most of this chapter will be written before chapter 2 is posted. Soon enough though, it'll probably take longer to update (for obvious reasons). Also, I'm trying to think really hard about where everything will fit in this story, so (hopefully) the pacing shouldn't be too bad.**

 **Anyway, on to the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - First Impressions**

 _I was running around outside, playing in the fields._

 _I chased a butterfly for almost a minute until I noticed another figure standing far away from where I was._

 _Their dark cloak was flapping around in the wind._

 _I contemplated running over and asking why they were there. But before I could make my decision, someone grabbed my arm and started pulling me away._

" _Mama, who was that?" I asked the woman who was leading me towards a log cabin._

 _She didn't answer, and when I tried to look up at her, I couldn't make out what she looked like, as if a shadow was covering her face._

 _When we reached the cabin, she quickly pushed open the door, and led me inside before roughly shutting it closed._

 _This grabbed the attention of a man who was sitting at the kitchen table._

" _What's wrong?" he worriedly asked._

 _I ran up to him and looked up. Again, I couldn't make out any of his facial features when he looked straight back at me._

" _Papa," I innocently started telling him. "There was a strange person standing in the fields!"_

 _He seemingly looked back up at my mother, and I followed his gaze._

 _My mother nodded._

 _The next thing I knew, my father was shoving me into a closet full of clothes._

" _Papa, what's going on?" I asked._

" _It's okay, sweetie," he assured me. "Everything will be alright."_

 _He then closed the closet door, and I heard him walk back towards the kitchen._

 _I heard my mother and father talking, but it all sounded like murmurs to me. It was unsettling, though._

 _Because I definitely heard a third voice._

 _All of a sudden, my parents' voices became silent. The third person kept talking before they, too, became silent._

 _Moments later, the closet door was whipped opened._

* * *

I woke with a start.

I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes. My hands fell to my lap as I stared at them.

"Damn nightmares," I muttered under my breath.

I got out of bed and went to the window. I threw back the curtains and squinted as my eyes were assaulted by the bright sun. I stretched my arms in order to get the remnants of sleep out of my system and got myself ready for the day. It was already lunchtime, but me sleeping in was expected after yesterday.

After changing my clothes, and reapplying my bandages, I walked down the hallway towards the kitchen to make lunch. I passed by the room that was empty when I bought the house. I basically turned it into my personal armory, filled with a large variety of weapons in case I needed any of them in the future.

I made sure to install a lock on the door, and I kept the key in my requip space.

After eating lunch, I requipped my necklace into my hand, put it around my neck, and tucked it into my shirt.

I put on my wrist guards and my boots before leaving the house. This time, without a cloak.

It was time to join a guild.

* * *

At Fairy Tail's construction site, members were carrying lumber around in order to aid with the reconstruction of their guildhall.

Erza Scarlet, who was wearing a beige work uniform and a hard hat with the Fairy Tail insignia on it, just finished breaking up a fight before turning to a giant, old man who was wearing the same outfit.

"Hey boss!" she yelled out. "Where do you want this lumber?"

The giant pointed a thumb to his right and replied, "Over there."

Erza was about to head over until she remembered something.

"Oh, right," she mostly said to herself before looking up at the giant. "You can expect person joining the guild sometime today!"

"Oh?" This piqued the giant's interest. "What are they like?"

"I don't really know much about her, but do you remember the train incident near Shirotsume?" The giant nodded. "Well, she defeated all of the Dark Unicorn members all by herself."

He looked back at her with a contemplative look.

"Hmm…interesting." He paused. "So…is she pretty?"

Everyone sweatdropped at his question.

* * *

I had already memorized the way to the construction site, so it didn't take me that long to get there. When I did, though, I was a bit surprised to see a giant, old man helping with the construction.

"What the…" I said, mainly to myself.

As I reached the entrance to the construction site, I heard really loud voices inside.

"This guild's full of weaklings!" an unknown person said loudly.

I peaked in. There was a man wearing a fur coat and headphones. He was sitting on a bench with his back faced towards me, and Scarlet was facing him. Based off of the anger radiating off of her, I assumed that the man was the speaker. He continued to belittle some of the people in the area - I think they were members - until a pink-haired guy tried to punch him. The man turned into what looked like lightning, and dodged it. He started spouting all of this nonsense about inheriting the guild and kicking people out or whatever, then he disappeared.

I couldn't really care less about what he said, but the atmosphere suddenly got pretty tense.

Almost as tense as the temple.

I walked in and went up to the scarlet-haired girl.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Laxus," she seethingly replied. "He's the Master's grandson, so he's most likely going to take over when the Master retires."

"I won't be retiring yet," the giant said calmly while putting down more lumber.

My eyes widened for a moment before I recollected myself.

"That's the Master?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh, that's right. You haven't met him yet," Scarlet said. "Master! The new member is here."

"Oh, is that right?" He looked me over, and then smiled. "Well then, I am Makarov, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail. You can get your stamp from Mirajane at the counter over there. Welcome to the guild."

"Is that it? I'm in?" I thought I was gonna be tested or something.

Erza walked up to me before saying, "That's right, Lok." She raised her voice a little so everyone could hear her. "Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

Everyone around me cheered and started partying. Just like that, the tense atmosphere was gone, and was replaced with laughter and excitement.

This guild was crazy. But maybe in a good way.

I was grabbed by the arm and led over to the counter where I got my stamp from the really nice barmaid named Mirajane Strauss.

My mark was on the side of my waist, in black. It was covered by my shirt.

Suddenly, Scarlet started pulling me in another direction.

"Allow me to introduce you to my team," she said.

I then met her four teammates.

"This is Natsu Dragneel," she introduced the pink-haired guy from before. "He uses Fire Dragon Slayer Magic."

He had spiky pink hair - I actually think it's salmon now that I got a closer look at it - and black eyes. He wore a sleeveless, gold trimmed, black waistcoat that was left open, and a gold trimmed, black cloth around his waist which reached down to his knees and was held up by leather brown belt. Under the cloth, he wore baggy, knee-length, white trousers with black ribbon ties at the end. He also had black, open-toed sandals, and a scaly, white scarf.

Oh, and his fists were on fire.

"Yo!" He smirked at me. "Erza says you're pretty strong. Let's fight!"

He was about to rush at me before an armored fist came crashing down on to his head.

"No fighting!" the owner yelled.

The Dragon Slayer whimpered before quietly saying, "Aye…"

Scarlet then introduced me to a boy with black hair and dark, blue eyes. He also had some sort of pendant around his neck…and he was wearing nothing besides his boxers.

"This is Gray Fullbuster. He uses Ice-Make Magic."

"Guess flame-brain couldn't hold back," he snarkily said.

Suddenly, the Dragon Slayer lifted himself off of the ground and set his fists ablaze again.

"What'd you say, popsicle dick!?" he yelled at him.

Okay, I had to admit. That one was a bit funny.

"You got a prob-" His retort was cut off by an armored fist smashing into each of their heads.

"What did I say about fighting?" the owner said menacingly. "And Gray, your clothes disappeared again!"

They both groaned as they lay on the ground.

"Are they all like this, Scarlet?" I asked.

"I apologize for their behavior." She sighed.

"Hi," a blonde girl greeted with a bright smile. "I'm Lucy. I use Celestial Spirit Magic."

She had brown eyes and lengthy, blonde hair. Some of it was tied into a side ponytail with a pink ribbon. She wore a navy-blue shirt that showed some of her midriff, and a pink miniskirt that was held up by a white belt. On the belt was some sort of box, and a whip. Finally, she was wearing brown, block heel sandals.

"I'm Happy," a flying, blue cat introduced himself.

I stared at him before pinching myself on the cheek.

I wasn't dreaming. The cat just talked.

This team was insane…

A stern, somewhat crazy, punch-first-ask-questions-later, armor-clad girl.

A headstrong, hot-headed pyromaniac.

A rude ice wizard with a stripping problem.

And a flying, talking, blue cat.

…at least Lucy seemed normal enough.

Then again, she was crazy enough to join this guild.

"Do you have a last name?" I asked her.

"Huh?" Her blonde hair swayed a bit as she tilted her head in confusion.

"Do you have a last name?" I repeated.

She had a knowing look on her face and stuttered a bit with her response. "I'd p-prefer it if you call me Lucy. Being called Heartfilia would just sound weird…"

Even though she muttered that second part, I still heard her. "Ah, I see. It makes you uncomfortable."

"Why do you call people by their last names?" Scarlet asked me.

"It was a custom back in my hometown," I answered.

It was a form of respect, so I thought members of a guild would use that system. Did guilds work differently?

"In this guild," she started. "Everyone is family, so we'd appreciate it if you called us by our first names."

Family, huh?

I looked around at them. They all grinned in agreement.

"Alright then…Erza." I gave in. Getting accustomed to the expected behavior is part of an infiltrator's job, after all.

"Excellent," she said. "So, to get you used to the guild, and to gain some experience, why don't we take you out on a mission?"

That's right. I needed information on the surrounding areas and how the system worked.

"Sounds good to me," I agreed.

We walked over to the request board, and I took a look at the missions available.

I was surprised by the variety. Helping to find a lost dog, hunting down some bandits, helping to build a restaurant, killing an ogre, and babysitting were just to name a few.

"Since it's your first job, you can pick the mission, Lok," Erza told me.

I nodded as I scanned through some more missions until one of them caught my eye.

I pointed at it. "How about this one?" I suggested.

They all looked at where I was pointing and read the request.

Both Erza and Lucy didn't mind.

"It's fine with me," Gray chimed in.

"Sounds like fun!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Aye!" Happy said.

Looks like we were gonna go destroy a cult.

* * *

"So…does he always get like this?" I asked my fellow guild members.

"Yeah, he has extreme motion sickness…" Lucy answered.

We were currently sitting in a carriage heading west from Magnolia. I was seated next to Erza on her left, and Gray was seated on her right. Lucy was sitting across from me with Happy on her lap, and Natsu was hanging over the back of the carriage trying not to throw up.

"Here, Natsu. Switch spots with Gray," Erza suggested.

After switching spots, Erza leaned Natsu's head on her shoulder.

That was kinda sweet of her…until she punched him in the stomach. His head fell on to her lap as he was knocked out.

"There," she said. "Much better."

I was bewildered? Amused? I didn't even know anymore.

'Apparently, the guildhall isn't the only thing that has a few screws loose,' I amusedly thought to myself.

I almost chuckled at my own joke until I realized how dumb it sounded.

"So," Lucy began while looking at me. "What magic do you use, Lok?"

Erza, Gray, and Happy all looked my way as they were curious as well.

"I mainly use Shadow Magic," I told them. "But I know some Strength Magic too."

"You must be quite well-rounded," Erza complimented me.

"Why do you think that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Shadow Magic isn't as destructive as a lot of other magics. It would mostly be used for stealth, traps, and wearing your opponent down. But you seem to be quite adept at close combat as well." She must've been referring to my fight with the dark guild yesterday. "And you even have Strength Magic to back you up."

I nodded in affirmation. "You seem to be quite smart."

"Thank you."

"By the way, what magic do you use, Erza?" I asked. I actually already knew what magic she used from the information I was given, but it could've been possible that the information was incomplete.

I needed to hear it from the target herself.

"I use something called Requip Magic. It allows me to store weapons and armor in a pocket dimension, so I can summon them at any time. I also use Sword Magic and Telekinesis to perform different kinds of attacks."

"Wow." I pretended to be in awe. "You must be pretty flexible when fighting."

"I'd like to think that I have good judgement in combat."

'Great,' I sarcastically thought. 'Nothing new.'

To be fair, Doc's information network was top notch. I was sure that if anything important happened anywhere in Fiore, Doc would've known about it within an hour.

However, I was only given a rundown of Erza's life in Fairy Tail. What it didn't include, was information about her teammates.

"You mentioned that you're a Celestial Spirit Mage." I turned to Lucy. "What exactly do you do?"

I had heard of Celestial Spirit Mages before, but I never really found out what they did.

She pulled out some keys and showed them to me. "I use these keys to open gates to the Celestial Spirit Realm and summon Celestial Spirits." She pointed at the golden ones. "The Gold Keys are really powerful, but they're also really rare. There are only twelve that exist in the world, and they're all different."

That part actually fascinated me for a bit. There were twelve, and Lucy owned six. Was she just really lucky?

"The Gold Keys also need a lot more magic power to use than the Silver ones and summoning more than one spirit at once is really tough."

'This girl's magic reserves must be insane…' I thought. 'Gotta watch out for her.'

I turned to Gray who seemed to be staring at the passing landscape.

"Ice-Make Magic is what I think it is, right?" I asked him.

He didn't even turn to me before answering, "Probably."

I nodded as the name made it pretty obvious. I assumed it would allow its user to sculpt anything from their imagination out of ice. I looked at an unconscious Natsu.

"So…Dragon Slayer Magic…" I began. "I've never heard about it before. What type of magic is it?"

"It's the magic used to slay dragons!" Happy replied as if it wasn't in the name. "It's really strong!"

"It's a type of Lost Magic," Erza added. "Since Natsu's element is fire, he doesn't get affected by any fire at all. In fact, he can eat it to replenish his magic, and he uses fire in his attacks. It's an extremely destructive magic."

Fire, huh?

The scars on my back ached, but I ignored it.

"He also has enhanced hearing and an enhanced sense of smell," Happy said.

Natsu sounded like a dangerous mage. Though I couldn't help but wonder…

What did I smell like?

"Hey, Lok," Lucy started talking. "What's your hometown like?"

I thought for a moment before turning to her. "The townsfolk were treated like trash. A lot of us were abused by the higher classes, and the mayor just allowed it. My family was kinda poor, so it was rough, trying to find jobs to earn money and all."

"Oh, that sounds pretty harsh. Was that why you left?"

"No." My response surprised her as I continued in a pained voice. "A dark guild raided the town. They massacred everyone they saw and burned everything to the ground. I managed to escape, but I'm not sure if anyone else did."

She looked disheartened at that. "Oh. I'm…sorry for asking."

I stared at her for a bit before looking away. "It's fine. You didn't know."

She sounded so sincere that I almost felt bad for lying to the pure-hearted girl.

Almost.

And with my 'backstory' killing the mood, not another word was said for the rest of the ride.

* * *

The request was from a small town. Some mages, later identified as cultists, had been acting strange, and Rune Knights were sent to investigate. Not all of them came back, and the request was sent to magic guilds. The request was to apprehend the cultists.

After checking in with the town's mayor, we headed to the area in which the cultists were last spotted.

"According to the request, the cultists are hiding somewhere in this forest," Erza stated. "Natsu, can you smell them?"

"He can smell them from this far away?" I asked. It seemed ridiculous to me.

Natsu sniffed the air for a few seconds before saying, "Nothing."

"They must be too far away from us. Let's split up and sear-" Erza tried to suggest an idea before getting cut off by Natsu.

"First one to find them gets to beat the crap outta them!" he yelled before running into the forest.

"No way am I letting him beat me!" Gray yelled while running in after him.

Lucy and I turned to Erza and sweatdropped. She was surrounded by a menacing aura as she clenched her fist in front of her.

"Those idiots never learn, do they?" she asked rhetorically. "Come on, we're going to go stop them before they do something even more stupid.

We ran in after the two boys, and I looked at our surroundings to search for clues. Most of the trees were either old or dead. There were no sounds other than the crunching beneath our feet as we ran over dead leaves.

Apparently, my clue-searching was pointless, as we ran into Natsu and Gray after a few minutes.

Natsu was looking around, and every so often, he would sniff the air.

"Did you find something?" Lucy asked him.

"This area smells different…" Natsu trailed off.

"What do you smell?" I curiously asked.

"Blood," he grimly replied.

Everyone seemed to perk up at that and began searching with him.

I walked over to a patch of ground that seemed no different than any other.

"Here," I told the others.

They all came over and stared at where I was staring.

"What is it?" Lucy asked me.

I pulled out a knife and swung it at the ground. It faded and revealed a hole that led to a large cave.

"Illusion Magic," I plainly said before jumping in.

They followed, and after we all landed, Natsu ran off in one direction with Happy flying after him. Natsu yelled something about the smell being stronger down that path.

"Follow him!" Erza commanded us as she went off in the same direction.

I made another note to myself to assassinate Erza in Natsu's absence. He would've definitely smelled Erza's blood on me, and I would've been hunted down. There was no way I could do it with him nearby.

We ended up in a brightly lit cavern with torches mounted on the walls. Water was dripping down from the stalactites that hung above. The rock formation that made up the walls were either jagged or had cracks running along it. There were other dark tunnels as well, presumably leading to other parts of the cave system.

Now that I could see more clearly, the tunnel we came from had a trail of blood on the floor.

We caught up to Natsu as he stood near the middle of the cavern, staring at the ground. We followed his gaze, and, collectively, our eyes widened.

There was a magic circle drawn on the ground, and it was drawn using blood. I assumed that the blood was from the body lying beside it. I could tell that my fellow guild members were shocked to find a body, but that wasn't what caught my eye.

Because next to the body, was a mask that was similar to mine. However, this one was red with horizontal, black dotted lines that ran across the cheeks and the nose. Black masks were only given to Masters, while white ones were given to Seniors. Red was the color of a Junior Assassin.

I started to move towards the body until a voice halted me.

"Hold on just a second."

Our group looked around as around forty hooded figures came out of the tunnels and surrounded us.

"Are you the cultists," Erza demanded, already assuming a fighting stance.

"We may not need that body anymore, but we don't want any evidence making its way to the Magic Council," one of them said.

'What a coincidence. Neither does the organization,' I thought.

"What're you bastards up to?!" Natsu questioned.

Their leader spoke up. "You won't be able to find out since you're all gonna die here!"

About a third of them rushed towards us with weapons while the rest stood there and prepared spells.

What came next was an absolute shitstorm…

" **Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee!** " Lucy exclaimed while holding a key. I was a bit surprised and impressed when a giant cow wielding a giant axe appeared. I was less impressed when the bull started making perverse comments towards Lucy's figure.

" **Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!** " I heard Erza exclaim. She requipped into a beautiful set of armor that made her look like a silver angel. " **Circle Sword!** " she then yelled out as swords started appearing out of thin air and spun around her.

I saw Gray with his right fist placed on top of his left open palm as he threw one ice attack after another at the enemy.

I made a note to myself that Gray had a large variety of attacks.

I then turned to where Natsu should've been standing, only to find him pouncing on an enemy, punching them with his flaming fists, then moving on to the next.

"As expected of Erza's team, they're all pretty strong," I said to myself as I tilted my head to the side, effectively dodging a ray of dark energy.

I strengthened my legs and launched myself at the assailant. I stopped right before him and kicked him so hard that he made a small crater in the wall when he crashed into it. I strengthened my fists as more of the cultists rushed me. I punched one in the face, then bent my body backwards to dodge a sword swing. While bending my body, I saw another dark ray of energy coming in from my right, so I turned my body over to my right and punched the ground with my left fist. That managed to propel me over the energy blast as I spun sideways in midair. I landed right next to the guy who fired it and sent my knee straight into his stomach which sent him flying. I turned around in time to see a sword being thrusted towards my face. I turned to the side to dodge it. As I let it pass, I grabbed the wielder's wrist with my right hand, and sent my left hand straight at his elbow. The cultist dropped the sword and howled in pain as their elbow was now bent at a weird angle. I uppercutted him, and he was down for the count.

I looked around me and I saw my guild members easily handling the remaining cultists. Cultists were being sent flying left and right in a flurry of fire, ice, and swords. Not to mention weird comments from Lucy's spirits.

I swore I saw a guy wearing a horse costume at one point.

Lucy pointed at their leader, and yelled out, "That guy's up to something?!"

I saw what she was pointing at. The leader of the cultists was standing on a newly formed magic circle, and the bloody magic circle, from before, was glowing.

I whipped out a dagger and threw it straight at the leader, aiming for his right shoulder to break his concentration. Instead, it deflected off of another cultist who wore armor and jumped in the way.

"Tch. What a pain," I muttered under my breath.

I quickly located some of the gaps in his armor, and I pulled out two knives.

I planned my assault in my head. 'Opponent only has a spear. Dodge the initial thrust and you win. A gap where the armpit is, the side of the calf, and the side of thigh. Those three are the critical points.'

Just as I was about to begin, Natsu barreled into the guy, and punched him into oblivion.

By oblivion, I meant the wall, which now had a large crater in it. I saw a large dent in the guy's armor as he fell to the floor, now unconscious.

In my head, I noted Natsu's incredible strength.

"It's too late!" the leader exclaimed. "The ritual is done, and you will all perish!"

He laughed maniacally as the bloody magic circle glowed even brighter. It then expanded, and something started to appear.

I rushed forward, picked up the dead assassin and the mask, and jumped back to where Lucy was standing.

"We should get above ground," I suggested as a giant, maroon-colored hand came out of the circle and slammed the ground in front of it.

"Why?" Lucy nervously asked.

Erza answered for me. "It's a summoning ritual, and I'm guessing that the thing he's summoning can easily bury us in this place."

I nodded in agreement as the cavern started rumbling.

Erza ordered us to move, and for the first time, Natsu didn't argue.

While we were running down the tunnel from which we came from, we heard a loud bellow from behind. The tunnel shook, and the ceiling started to collapse.

"Whatever that guy summoned, I don't think it's too happy being woken up!" Lucy yelled.

We stopped underneath the hole that was our entryway. Natsu and Gray both climbed out and Erza was on her way up.

I looked up. I grabbed Lucy's wrist and yanked her towards me. She yelped as part of the tunnel's ceiling crashed down right where she was previously standing.

"Thanks, Lok," she said in appreciation while she looked back at what she could've been buried under.

I tapped her on the shoulder and motioned her to climb out of the hole. She nodded and climbed after Erza.

She tried not to show it, but I could see the fear in her eyes.

Lucy was easily scared. Noted.

I threw the body over my right shoulder. Once Lucy reached the top, I strengthened my legs, and jumped upwards. Every time one of my feet hit the wall, I used what little footing I had and pushed myself upwards. I kicked off the wall one last time and cleared the hole. I did a backflip in midair and landed in a crouched position.

I stood up and looked around. All of us made it out…even the damn cat.

"Where were you all this time?" I asked Happy.

"Uh…hiding," he sheepishly answered.

So Happy was almost useless. Noted…I guess.

A large hand came out of the ground several dozens of meters away from us, followed by a second hand. The thing lifted itself out of the ground by jumping skywards. It caught air for a few seconds before landing. The ground now had many cracks in it, all originating from the craters formed beneath the thing's feet.

"It looks like an ogre," Erza calmly stated. "Although this one is abnormally large."

I looked at the creature as a whole.

Standing at around thirty feet tall, it had large muscles, large feet that could easily crush a person, and sharp claws instead of nails. It wore fur clothing around its chest and groin area, and it was carrying a stone hammer that was almost just as big.

It sniffed the air before turning to us and letting out another bellow. Its yellow eyes stared at us. The leader of the cultists jumped out of the hole as well.

"Behold!" he exclaimed in glee. "This demon is known as the Sun Stealer, and I have finally awakened him from Devils Hole!"

The demon jumped forward, preparing to bring its hammer down on us.

"Scatter!" Gray warned as we all jumped in different directions.

The impact of the hammer caused a rush of wind to pass by.

"Gray, freeze its legs!" Lucy told him.

"On it," he responded calmly before doing so.

"Natsu, destroy the hammer!"

Ah, so that was what she was aiming for.

"You got it!" he exclaimed in excitement as he jumped towards it.

The demon started to swing its hammer at Natsu.

" **Shadow Bind.** " I called upon dozens of shadowy chains that came out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the demon's arms so they couldn't move.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** " yelled out before punching the hammer with a flaming fist.

I really didn't think that a punch cou-

A crack formed on the hammer, then several more appeared before the whole thing crumbled to pieces.

I was in awe. The amount of brute force behind that punch must've been insane.

"Hey, is it just me, or is it getting really hot around here?" I asked nonchalantly.

Glowing red cracks formed all over the demon's body. It opened its mouth and lava came spewing out.

Those of us nearby dodged and moved to a safe distance.

Gray shot some ice lances at the demon's upper body, but they evaporated before they hit.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Gray frustratingly asked.

"I think it's upset we broke its hammer."

"Anyone got any ideas?"

"I have one," I told them. "But I need that thing to stay still."

Lucy seemed to perk up at that. "Erza, is your Adamantine Armor repaired?"

"Yes, why?" Erza seemed a bit confused before realization hit her. "Oh, I see."

I didn't really understand their little exchange, but I assumed that they had a plan.

A small part of me wanted to let Erza get killed by the demon, and then faking my death right after before escaping.

But I had pride.

The only one allowed to kill Erza was me. This was a fate that was decided as soon as Doc gave me the mission.

While Natsu and Gray were distracting it, Erza jumped in front of it and taunted it. The demon looked like it was about to spew lava again, but Natsu came in and kicked its head to the side, making it miss its target. So, the demon decided to try and punch Erza instead. As the punch came closer to her, Erza requipped into a set of blue and navy colored armor. Her entire body, except her face, was covered, and attached to the gauntlets, were two separate plates of armor. She combined the two and formed a shield. The demon's fist crashed into it and the shockwave was strong enough to split the trees behind Erza.

Then, slowly, the demon's arm started to disintegrate. It stumbled backwards while bellowing in pain. Taking advantage of its confused state, Natsu threw a giant fireball at the demon's back which knocked it down on its knees.

"Now, Lok!" Lucy gave me the signal.

I nodded. I dropped the body and the mask and held both of my hands in front of me. I called out, " **Pillar of Shades.** "

A dark magic circle formed beneath the demon, and another formed above. Suddenly, the demon was engulfed in darkness. It let out a deafening roar as its energy was sapped out. After some time, I let the pillar disappear.

"Impossible…" the leader of the cultists said in disbelief.

"Finish it off Natsu!" Erza ordered.

" **Fire Dragon's Roar!** " A stream of fire came from Natsu's mouth and engulfed not only the demon, but a large area behind it as well.

After Natsu's attack died down, the demon fell over, and the cultist leader, who had been standing in the affected area, did as well.

'To kill a lava demon with fire…' I thought to myself. 'What destructive force.'

I stared at the burning forest.

 _I stared at the burning house._

" _This is no longer your home, Aster. Come with me."_

"Hey Lok!" Lucy snapped me out of my daze. "Great job! You're really strong, you know."

I offered her a fake smile. "Thanks. You too."

"Aw, you're just saying that." She looked at me as I started to walk away. "Where are you going?"

I picked up the body and the mask before answering, "Gonna give them a proper burial."

* * *

When I was far enough, I dug a deep grave, and dumped the body in it. I stared at the mask before crushing it into little pieces. I threw them in with the body and piled the dirt on top. I patted it down to make sure there wasn't any sign of a hole being dug, and I even threw a bunch of dead leaves on it, to make it look less suspicious.

I hurried back to where Erza and the rest of them were.

The Rune Knights came and arrested all of the cultists. We were given our reward, and before I knew it, we were on our way back to Magnolia.

"So how was your first mission, Lok?" Erza asked me.

"Exciting…to say the least. Are you guys usually that destructive?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

I hummed in response.

We all sat in silence before I spoke up again.

"You mentioned you were a team." They nodded. "Do you think I can join?"

They looked at each other. Gray smirked. "You're already a part of the team, Lok," he said. "Actually, as soon as you accepted this mission with us, I don't think you actually had a choice."

"Really?"

They all nodded in agreement except Natsu, who was busy trying not to throw up.

"Thank you," I told them.

My mission just got so much easier.

* * *

I was finally back at home.

I pulled out a lacrima from my requip space and made a call.

A voice was heard on the other side.

"Why, good evening, Aster!" Doc cheerfully greeted me. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

I explained the situation to him.

"I see. And you made sure to dispose of the body and the mask?" he asked firmly.

"Yes." I dryly responded.

"Good." He smirked. "Enjoying guild life yet?"

"It's interesting…to say the least."

* * *

 **A/N:** **This chapter SHOULD'VE been posted yesterday or a couple days ago, but I got caught up in some things, so ehh. Anyway, on to things I wanted to discuss about this chapter and following chapters.**

 **Do I plan on describing every outfit? If it's canon, no.**

 **The demon used in this chapter was inspired by Dzoavits, a demon from Native American mythology.**

 **Now, I hope that I'll be able to get another chapter out before I start university (because who knows how much time I'll have to write when that happens). I'll try, but I will be gone for two days during the week.**

 **Anyway, see you all in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** **Welcome to chapter 4. By the way, I don't plan on writing out every single fight that happens in the story. Basically, if the fight happens and ends the same in canon, I (probably) won't write it out. If it's significant enough to actually have an impact on my OC and/or her relationships…I'll (probably) write it.**

 **Read the note at the end if you would like to hear my pointless excuses.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 - Of Old and New**

" _Welcome, children," a man said. "Welcome."_

 _I looked around me. There were at least a hundred and fifty kids around my age, and we were all lined up. I saw a few cloaked, masked figures who were positioned around the perimeter of the large room we were in, watching us._

 _The rectangular room looked like it belonged to some sort of facility, as the floor was made up of white tiles and the walls were made of metal._

" _All of you will start training in order to begin your career as an assassin," the man began. "In fact, some of you have already started." I could've sworn that he looked at me before continuing. "Over the next two years, we will train your magic, your hand-to-hand combat, and the way you think. An assassin always knows when an opportunity to strike arises. You must learn these skills before graduating and becoming a Beginner Assassin. Some of you prefer solitude. Some of you will try to get to know your peers. Some of you won't even bother remembering people's names. Some of you…won't even make it to graduation. The training regimen is difficult. The most likely causes of death will be Magic Deficiency, and close combat training accidents. You may take off your masks if you like, but it is recommended that you don't. Always be aware, and always keep your guard up. Death awaits you if you don't."_

 _I fidgeted with the beige mask that covered my face._

" _Lastly, you may refer to me as the Doc. I will be overseeing your training here."_

 _A cloaked person wearing a black mask stood next to him. "You may all return to your assigned rooms for the time being," he said. "Dinner will available in the mess hall in approximately one hour. However, I do recommend eating in your rooms. Anyone who is caught outside of their rooms after midnight will be severely punished. Training will begin tomorrow morning. That is all."_

 _Four heavy, metal doors, each leading to a separate wing in the building, clicked open as the kids filed out and made their way back to their rooms. I walked with some of the other children who lived in the same wing as me. The hallway was dimly lit by the rectangular, fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling. The only sound was the noise our shoes made when they made contact with the tiled floor. We followed alongside the dull, grey, stone wall until we reached our respective rooms. When I reached my room, I stared at the nameplate that simply said 'Lok' on it before opening the metal door and entering._

 _I examined the room as the door automatically shut behind me. The layout was pretty simple. A bed, a desk, a chair, and a washroom that included a sink, a toilet, and a shower. A clock that hung on the wall told me that there was still quite a bit of time before dinner was served, so I decided to relax._

 _I turned on the lights and went straight to my bed. I lay down and just stared up at the ceiling, waiting for dinner._

 _The mess hall had rows of long tables with chairs neatly pushed in. Most of the kids I saw picked up their food and left, probably to go eat in their rooms. But there were a few groups of kids who sat together at the tables. They had their masks off and were talking while eating, probably getting to know each other._

 _After lining up and getting my dinner, I prepared to go back to my room to eat when a girl's voice stopped me._

" _You have a strange hair color."_

 _I turned around. The boys and girls had separate outfits, so I could easily tell that the two kids standing before me were girls. I stared at the one who called out to me._

" _As if you're one to talk," I retorted, referring to her green hair._

 _She giggled. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. Purple looks nice."_

" _Don't mind her," the other girl spoke with her hands on her hips. This one had long blue hair that reached down to her waist. "She's a ditz."_

" _Hey, that's mean!" the green-haired girl complained._

" _Anyway," the bluenette continued. "My name's Hara, and this airhead of a girl is Runi. Wanna come eat dinner with us?"_

* * *

I stared up at the ceiling and groaned as I remembered the details of the dream I just had.

I slowly got out of bed and started my morning routine, but not before muttering, "I swear it's 'cause of the new bed."

It was a nice day.

When I left the house and started walking to the guild, I passed by the few neighbors I had. They all greeted me with smiles on their faces. A few "Hellos" and "Good mornings" were thrown my way, so I did the polite thing and returned them, albeit stoically.

When I got to the guild, I noticed that they got a bit further in the construction of the guildhall. Some parts of the outer walls were built and there was wooden scaffolding all over the higher areas.

I walked over to the area where most of the members were taking a break and saw Lucy sitting at the counter, talking to Mirajane. I walked over.

"Morning," I greeted them as I sat down on the stool next to Lucy. They both smiled at me.

"Hey," Lucy greeted back.

"Good morning!" Mirajane cheerfully replied. "Do you want something to drink?"

I looked at Lucy's strawberry milkshake. "Sure. Can I get a chocolate milkshake?"

"Coming right up!"

I looked over to Lucy.

"Where's Erza?" I asked her.

"Hm? The Master called her into his office. They're talking now."

"I see."

"Where are Natsu and Gray?"

"They usually get here around lunchtime."

"Huh. So, what do you usually do here if you're not on a mission?"

She smiled brightly. "We hang out!"

"Hang out?"

"Yeah," she said. "We do whatever we feel like doing."

"I see."

After finishing our drinks, I asked Lucy to introduce me to some more members since I barely knew anyone in the guild. She kindly agreed and told me to follow her.

And so, I met a lot of…strange people. There was a girl named Levy who really liked books. There were also her two fanboys, Jet and Droy. Two perverts named Macao and Wakaba…who stared at my legs and Lucy's bust before she glared at them.

"He looks like a small giant," I said after meeting Mirajane's younger brother, Elfman.

"How do you know what a giant looks like?" Lucy curiously asked.

"I've ki- I saw them around my hometown a couple times."

I almost slipped there.

"Are they married?" I asked Lucy after meeting the two Gun Magic users named Bisca and Alzack.

"No, they're not even dating."

'They sure acted like they were,' I thought to myself.

I also met a drunk girl named Cana. I stared at the empty barrels that were once full of alcohol next to her.

"Will she remember me when she's sober?"

"Hopefully," Lucy sheepishly replied.

Once Natsu and Gray arrived, a brawl started, and I was hiding behind the bar with Lucy.

"Are they always like this?" I asked the blonde girl next to me.

"Yeah, but that's what makes this guild interesting!"

"I guess so…"

Soon enough, the Master stopped the brawl and walked off, muttering something about young people breaking too much.

A guy with orange hair walked up to Lucy.

"Loke!" Lucy exclaimed. "Shouldn't you be in the spirit realm?"

"I wanted to drop by and see everyone, especially Lucy," he said.

"Is he your boyfriend?" I asked her.

Lucy sighed. "No, he's not."

"So, what is he then?"

"He's a Celestial Spirit. Speaking of which, you should really return. You haven't fully recovered yet."

"Hold on," he began. "Since you all helped me out so much, take this." He gave five tickets to Lucy who stared at them in awe. "They're tickets to Akane Resort. I already gave a ticket to Erza, so you can give the fifth ticket to whoever you want, though I think I already know who that would be."

He looked at me.

"Why, hello there," he greeted while putting an arm around me. "I don't think we've met before."

"Lucy, can I punch him?" I seriously asked her.

Lucy pulled him off of me and they had a small talk. They both smiled when they stopped, and Loke's body was surrounded by light before he vanished.

"So that's how they go back to their realm, huh," I murmured to myself.

Natsu, Gray, and Happy were overly excited about their tickets. Lucy came over to me and held out a ticket.

"And here's yours."

"I get one?"

She giggled. "Of course, you do. We're a team, after all."

"Thanks, Lucy."

Erza walked up to us.

"Oh, is the Master done talking to you?" Lucy asked her.

She nodded before smiling. "Why don't we go to the resort tomorrow morning. We should celebrate Lok's first successful mission with a nice dinner," she suggested.

"Huh? You don't have to do that…" I tried.

"Nonsense. You are a new member on our team. It must be celebrated," she insisted.

"Why not celebrate at the resort?" I suggested.

"The resort's more like a celebration for the formation of Fairy Tail's strongest team. Your first mission should be celebrated separately," Lucy chimed in.

"I…alright then." I gave up.

The rest of the day up till dinner was full of laughter, banter, and brawls. I joined in sometimes, in the first two, but I mostly just watched with a smile plastered on my face.

* * *

Dinner was good. It was enjoyable at the least. We talked a lot, and Natsu somehow ate three times as much as the rest of us…combined.

I learned that there was a girl's dormitory for Fairy Tail members and that Erza lived there. Lucy lived somewhere else since the rent was too expensive for her. Natsu and Happy, from what Erza had told me, lived in a beat-up house that they built. Apparently, no one really knew where Gray lived.

I wondered why there wasn't a boy's dormitory, but it wasn't important enough for me to ask.

"So where do you live, Lok?" Lucy asked me as we were about to head our separate ways.

"I live near the East Forest."

She hummed in response.

"Well then," Erza began. "Since it's starting to get dark out, I'm going to head back to the dormitory."

Lucy and I agreed. They both congratulated me once again for completing my first mission as a member of the guild, then we bid each other farewell and started walking in opposite directions.

I kept walking in the direction of the East Forest until I knew I was a safe distance from my fellow guild members. My smile turned into a frown.

I let out a tired sigh as I rubbed my cheeks a little.

'Having a smile plastered on my face for almost the entire day makes me sore…'

Appearances were always a huge factor on missions.

It wasn't like I didn't like any of the Fairy Tail members. Far from it. I actually enjoyed some of their company since they were interesting people. But they just got a bit too rowdy sometimes.

It was a bit chilly on the way back to the house. The slight breeze ruffled my skirt and my hair was blown into my face. In a poor attempt to get the hair out of my face, I moved some of the strands behind my ear.

Even though it didn't really help, it wouldn't have mattered for long anyway.

* * *

Erza was content.

She and her team had spent some quality time together, and they had properly welcomed their newest member. Lok seemed to be a down to earth person. She was a bit reserved, but she was very dependable.

She had Erza's approval, that was for sure.

Erza wondered how Lok was adjusting to her first guild. Fairy Tail wasn't exactly…normal, but it was family.

She seemed to enjoy the dinner as much as the rest of them had, so that was a good sign.

Suddenly, Erza stiffened.

She looked over to the roof of a house on her left.

She saw nothing.

'It must've been my imagination,' she thought.

She turned to face the front and her eyes widened in surprise as the distinct form of a person rushed towards her. The person swung a sword at her, and Erza quickly requipped a sword in her own hands to block the strike. As soon as their blades clashed, the person dashed to Erza's left with impossible speed in an attempt to strike below her guard. The speed caught her off guard, but Erza, having already anticipated that move, was already moving to block it. She barely managed to block in time, and in an attempt to gain some space, she tried to kick the person away. They dodged by backflipping while gaining some distance.

Erza recollected herself. Now that she saw the person more clearly, she recognized who it was. The same white mask with a scar running straight through the right eye that she saw almost two months ago.

'This was the person who killed the mayor of that town,' she remembered. 'Possibly a Speed Magic user.'

" **Requip: Flight Armor** ," Erza called out. She requipped into an armor with patterns akin to a cheetah's, and matching swords appeared in each hand, replacing the sword she used to block the first strike.

The person dashed forward with incredible speed once again and quickly brought their sword down on Erza. Now being able to match the person's speed, Erza crossed her swords and blocked it, only to be surprised to see the person requip another sword in their other hand and swing it at her. She leapt back only to be rushed again. Her attacker swung both of their swords at Erza's right side, so she used both of hers to fend it off. When she was about to counterattack, the person quickly requipped away the swords, allowing them to pass through Erza's guard. Erza, obeying her instincts, jumped away from the person just as something smashed into the ground where she was standing not even a second earlier.

She turned around. Her attacker now held a large black hammer that had spikes on all sides. The person rushed forward again, the hammer disappearing from their hands and being immediately replaced by two swords.

The cycle continued where Erza had to stay on the defensive. Her opponent continued their neverending assault as Erza continued to parry and block each and every strike. Even though the attacks weren't very difficult to fend off, her aggressor didn't waste much movement, which made it harder to counterattack.

But then, her attacker overextended when they tried to stab her with a sword. Seeing her chance, Erza quickly and fluidly knocked the sword out of their hand and swung her own sword at them. Her assailant barely had any time to duck beneath the attack, and their hood, which was caught by the sword, was taken off. They leapt back and gained some distance from the scarlet-haired knight.

The person had blue hair which was all swept to one side.

Erza narrowed her eyes. "Who are you, and why are you after me?" she demanded.

"It does not matter who I am," a gruff, masculine voice spoke. "All that matters, is who you are, and that is, Erza Scarlet."

Erza got into her battle stance again but was surprised to see her opponent's sword disappear. The man, she assumed, pulled his hood back on.

"My time is up," they said before quickly jumping on to a roof and running off.

Erza tried to follow him, but as soon as she got on to the roof, the man was already jumping from roof to roof, heading towards the west of town before she lost sight of him.

Erza contemplated going after him but decided against it.

Her swords disappeared, and she changed back to her regular armor as she jumped back on to the path. She then continued the walk back to the dorm, albeit apprehensively.

* * *

When I got home, I was tired and just wanted to sleep.

I did care about hygiene, though, so I went to take a shower. In the bathroom, I amusedly looked in the mirror.

Blue on black on purple.

The new hair spray worked, at least.

* * *

 _When no one was looking, I slipped into an alleyway where no one could see me. I pulled out my 'work' clothes from my requip space and changed into them. I put a lacrima-powered collar around my neck and switched it on._

 _I spoke to test it out. Just as I thought, the voice that came out of my mouth was not my own._

 _I put on my mask and requipped away my other clothes. I wanted to try out a new product that I bought in town, so I pulled out a can and sprayed my hair. I then swept all of my hair to one side and pulled my hood up._

 _After a few more preparations, I was ready to go._

* * *

'She's probably wary now. I shouldn't attempt it again for a week or two,' I decided.

That went just as well as I thought it would. Deliberately letting her see my hair and hear my voice should've made her think that her assailant was male.

The hair product I bought wasn't very strong, so I easily washed it off without washing off the black and red hair dye I had put on at the beginning of the mission.

As I turned off the lights and lay down in bed, I wondered if I could've killed Erza right then and there if I had gone all out.

Probably not.

Extremely high stamina, insane strength, fast reflexes, and she seemed to adapt really well to different situations.

I would've lost, one way or another.

At least I could relax at the resort over the next few days.

And with my thoughts lingering on what to bring, I drifted off into slumber.

* * *

The next morning, when I got to the train station right on time, I noticed that I was the third one there.

"Erza I can understand, but I didn't know you could show up early," I attempted a jab at Gray.

"Hey, I can be punctual if I want." He then muttered, "Unlike that pink-haired freak."

"What was that?" Erza sternly asked him.

He straightened up. "Nothing!"

Erza turned to me and said, "Good morning, Lok."

"Morning," I greeted back.

We waited for a while longer until Natsu and Lucy came running with Happy flying right behind them.

"You're late!" Erza scolded them.

"Sorry!" they all apologized, frightened by the tone of her voice.

We got on to the train and found our seats. I sat next to Erza and Gray while Natsu, Lucy, and Happy sat across from us.

When we got settled, I decided to ask, "So why does everyone find Erza scary?"

"I would like to know that as well," Erza added on.

"Uh…uh…" Natsu and Gray stammered.

Lucy decided to avoid the question by looking outside the window, making it look like she wasn't paying attention to the conversation.

"Well, I think she's nice," I complimented her with a smile on my face.

She seemed to appreciate that. "Why, thank you, Lok."

As soon as the train started moving, Natsu got sick and Lucy tried to comfort him. Gray was looking out the window, seemingly bored, and Erza and I decided to take a nap.

I felt someone shaking my shoulders. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around.

"We're here, Lok," Lucy told me.

The scene around me was practically the same as before I fell asleep but with one key difference.

I was leaning on Erza's shoulder.

I sat straight and stretched my arms while yawning. I turned to Erza and said, "Sorry about that. Hope you weren't uncomfortable."

She seemed a bit flustered. "N-no problem."

To gain someone's trust, trust them first. To make them let their guard down, let yours down first.

The train came to a stop soon after. We gathered our belongings and got off while dragging along a still sick Natsu.

The resort looked amazing. There was an amusement park, a beach, and a lot of other buildings.

We decided to check in to our hotel first to drop off our luggage. The rooms were massive and fancy. A king-sized bed, a coffee table with four chairs placed around it, a large archway that led to the bathroom, a large, rectangular mirror on the wall, and a balcony where one could sit and relax. The best part was, we each got our own rooms.

We got changed into our swimsuits since we decided to go to the beach. I slipped into a red bikini that I bought before we left Magnolia, and I put on a purple t-shirt and black shorts. I actually removed all the weapons off my body.

But I kept the bandages on my forearms.

Once we were ready, we reconvened outside of the hotel and left with some towels.

The beach had chairs set up with umbrellas next to them for shade. It wasn't too crowded either. Once we set our stuff down, Natsu and Gray ran off towards the water with Happy right behind them.

"Let's go, too!" Lucy exclaimed.

I took off my shirt and shorts and turned around to put them on the beach chair.

When I turned back around, I noticed that Lucy and Erza were in shock.

"Lok…what happened to your back?" she tentatively asked.

I looked away.

"I didn't exactly have a pleasant childhood," I answered cryptically.

" _Remember, Lok. It's a risk you should be willing to take. Show them a weakness, so that they may show theirs."_

"C'mon, let's go!" I told them.

I ran towards the beach, and after a moment, they followed.

* * *

Lucy couldn't believe what she saw.

"You saw them, right?" I whispered to Erza, who was right next to me.

She sighed. "Yes, I did."

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know, but it would probably be better if we didn't ask. We wouldn't want to bring up any unpleasant memories when we're on vacation."

Lucy agreed. "Yeah…you're probably right."

Erza might've said that, but she couldn't peel her eyes off of Lok's back.

Burn scars.

A lot of them.

Some were small, and some were larger than others, but there was one that went straight across her back, from her left shoulder to the right side of her lower back.

They looked excruciatingly painful, and Erza couldn't help but hope that whoever did that to Lok's back got the punishment they deserved.

* * *

It was probably the most fun I'd had in a while.

It was now evening. I had just finished washing up and changed into some more casual clothes when someone knocked on my door.

"Come in," I said.

The door opened, and Lucy stepped into my room. She was wearing a beautiful red dress.

"Hey, wanna go to the casino?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Sure."

"Great! Can you go get Erza? I gotta make sure that Natsu and Gray behave in the lobby."

I nodded, and she left.

I rummaged through my suitcase till I found what I was looking for. After changing and making myself look presentable, I left my room to fetch Erza.

* * *

Erza woke up, her eyes wide with fear as she contemplated the dream she just had.

"That dreaded place again," she murmured, mainly to herself.

"What dreaded place?" The voice came from behind her.

Erza stood and sharply turned around to face whoever barged into her room. Though she relaxed a bit when she saw who it was.

Lok was wearing a black, side slit dress and her hair was in a bun.

She tilted her head in confusion.

"It's nothing," Erza began. "Just a bad dream, I guess."

"Wanna talk about it?" Lok asked her.

"No, no it's fine."

"…alright then. Anyway, you wanna check out the casino?"

"They have a casino?"

Lok nodded then said, "Everyone else is waiting downstairs."

"Well, alright then."

Erza was then surrounded by light and when it died down, she was wearing a purple dress with some flower patterns on it.

"So? How do I look?" Erza asked.

"Great," Lok complimented her with a smile.

'I guess it's okay if I relax once in a while,' Erza thought.

* * *

The casino was huge. All sorts of games I've never seen before were lined up next to each other.

I've been to casinos before on different missions, but this was something else. Everything just seemed to sparkle.

Natsu and Happy went off to one of the giant slot machines, and Gray went to play some game.

Lucy, Erza, and I walked around until we found some tables meant for card games. We sat down at one and began to play.

I wasn't really a huge gambler, so I decided to watch Erza and Lucy play. The latter lost on the first round and backed out, opting to watch Erza play and saying something along the lines of "today not being her day".

Erza was…really lucky. She kept steamrolling the competition with her lucky cards. Everyone else at the table was flabbergasted at how she kept on winning.

"Dealer change."

"R-right."

A new dealer stepped in and I couldn't help but feel like he was suspicious.

"I've got a special game for you folks tonight," the dealer creepily said as he dealt five cards on to the table.

The cards spelled DEATH.

The dealer continued, "Let's play a game where the stakes are as high as possible. That means, your life is the bet, Erza-neesan."

We looked up at the dealer. He had tanned skin, wavy blonde hair, a s-shaped tattoo below his lip, a long diamond earring hanging from his left ear, and a crazed look in his dark, beady eyes.

I quickly stood up, pulled out a knife from underneath my dress, and prepared to-

"Is that you, Shô?" Erza quietly asked.

What?

Erza's voice held fear and…relief?

I held off on attacking the boy in front of me and looked over to Erza. Her eyes were wide with shock.

"It's been a while, Nee-san," the dealer said to Erza.

"Nee-san?" Lucy questioned.

"You're…alive?" Erza asked the boy named Shô.

He leaned in. "Alive?"

"Well…I mean."

Suddenly, everything turned pitch black. There was a gunshot. People panicked and started yelling, but after a few moments, the yelling stopped.

"What happened?!" Lucy exclaimed.

When we were able to see again, the casino was empty. It was as if everyone had disappeared.

"Over here."

We looked over and saw Shô throwing cards on to the floor. Stuck inside the frames of the cards, were people.

"Magic?!" a shocked Erza asked.

"That's right, I'm capable of it too."

"But, who taught you?"

"Meow~"

A magic circle appeared on the ground beneath Lucy's feet and some weird rope came out and wrapped itself around her.

"Lucy!" Erza exclaimed.

"Well, aren't you all rosy," a girl who sat on top of the table said.

Erza seemed to know her as well. "Milliana? You can use magic too?"

"It's been a while, Er-chan."

"Please, release Lucy! She's my friend," Erza pleaded.

"Friend?"

"We used to be your friends too," Shô smirkingly said. "Until you betrayed us!"

Erza gritted her teeth.

A blocky man materialized with his arm around Shô. "Cut her some slack, pal. Keep your composure and everything will be dandy."

Erza knew him. "Wally?"

"Long time no see. You turned out to be quite the looker. I've gone through some changes myself. The Mad Dog Wally you grew up with has seen a lot since the old days. You see…I'm a lot smoother now."

God, his joke was terrible.

'Old friends of hers, huh? Well whoever they are, they don't seem very friendly now.'

I pulled out a second knife. I turned to the girl, Milliana, who captured Lucy and rushed towards her. She looked surprised.

"Wait, don't!" Erza yelled out.

I hesitated for a second, then everything went dark. I was suddenly blasted into a nearby wall which cracked under the pressure. I coughed out from the impact and slumped to the ground.

Lucy and Erza both screamed my name and I could hear the worry in their voices.

I slowly stood up and put my hand on the wall to steady myself. I looked at the man that attacked me and appeared behind Erza.

"Those sharp weapons are a bit dangerous, aren't they?" he rhetorically asked.

"Simon…" Erza said.

"It's time to go back, Nee-san," Shô told her. "To the Tower."

"Jellal is waiting," Simon added.

Erza's eyes widened even further as she trembled in fear.

"If you refuse to go back," the blockhead, Wally, began. "We might just shoot someone till you do."

His arm materialized into a gun and he aimed it at Lucy.

"No, don't!" Erza screamed.

The gun disappeared and reappeared behind her. It shot and Erza let out a surprised noise before falling to the ground.

"Erza…Erza!" Lucy screamed.

They picked her up and started walking away.

"Mission accomplished," Simon said.

"By the way, I got a gift for you, Milliana," Wally said to grab her attention. He gave her…Happy?

"A kitty!" Milliana exclaimed.

I sprinted towards them. I pulled out three knives in each hand and threw them at Erza captors. They teleported at the last moment and the knives stuck themselves into a pillar behind them.

I retrieved them and went to cut Lucy free from the rope.

"We need to find the others!" she said.

We split off to look for our friends.

All of a sudden, there was a roar and a stream of fire that went skywards. I ran in its direction and found a pissed off Natsu.

"What kind of guy just shoots people in the mouth?!" he yelled furiously. "I mean…someone can get real hurt!"

"I think any normal person would die from that," I told him.

Lucy, Gray, and some blue-haired girl I didn't know ran towards us.

"They took Erza and Happy!" Lucy informed everyone.

"They'll pay when I get my hands on them…especially that blockhead!" Natsu yelled as he ran off.

"Is he following their scent?" I asked.

"Yep, he sure is," Gray replied. "Let's follow him."

"Right."

They dare to steal my prey. They dare to walk all over my pride.

"Tch."

They'll pay…old friends be damned.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Alright, so I've now begun the Tower of Heaven Arc (as if you couldn't already tell). This update is slow, and future updates will probably get even slower as the university workload gets bigger and bigger. I barely have time to write now, but I WILL NOT give up on this story. Anyway, since the way people address each other is different in the Japanese compared to the English, I chose to go with the Japanese version.**

 **See you in the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** **Sorry for the wait? (Insert Excuses #1, 2, and 3). But you guys know the drill. Also, I need to (sorta) rewatch this arc since it's been a few years.**

 **Also, remember when I said that I would be using the Japanese honorifics? Heh…I'll use them sometimes (only reason why I decided to use them was because Jura's speech would've been kinda weird…to me at least since I didn't really like the dubbed version). Basically, I might be switching between the two, meaning that some characters will use them, and others won't. I'll try to keep each character's speech consistent though. I'm doing this because I don't actually have time to rewatch a bunch of Fairy Tail episodes to find out how everyone addresses each other, but I think we can all agree that some things just sound better in Japanese (what those 'things' are, depends on you).**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5 - Tearful Heart and Crippled Pride**

We were currently in a boat, trying to follow Natsu's nose.

It might not have been that effective, though, since he was leaning over the side, trying not to let the seasickness take over.

"Are you a member of the guild, too?" I asked the blue-haired girl next to me.

"Um, actually, Juvia isn't a member of any guild at the moment," she responded.

"Juvia…is that your name?"

She nodded.

"Juvia here was actually one of Phantom Lord's elites," Gray said nonchalantly. "Since her guild was disbanded, she wanted to join Fairy Tail."

"… does Fairy Tail usually accept their former enemies into the guild?" I questioned.

"Depends…" he vaguely answered. "It's usually up to gramps, though."

I flinched a bit at what he said.

Lucy noticed and asked, "What's wrong, Lok?"

"N-nothing. So, it's the Master's decision then?"

Gray nodded then started to berate Natsu for not putting his nose to work.

I stared off into the distance as Natsu tried to pull himself together.

* * *

" _Aster, time for morning training! Wake up!_

 _I slowly opened my eyes. I threw the covers off of my body, sat up, and stretched my arms. I shivered as I felt the cold, morning air brush against my skin._

" _Aster!"_

" _Coming!" I yelled._

 _I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I then got changed and left the bedroom. I went out to the backyard._

" _Didn't the facility teach you how to be punctual?"_

 _I looked to my left. Sitting on a rocking chair, holding a mug, was an old man. He wore a brown vest over a plain white shirt, and grey trousers that reached his ankles. Strapped to his vest were four large knives._

 _I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, gramps."_

 _He got a bit irritated. "Didn't I tell you to call me Master?!"_

 _I rolled my eyes again. "Yeah, yeah…Master Yurick."_

* * *

"Hey, is that it?"

My thoughts were interrupted as everyone stared in one direction.

In the distance, there was a tall, ominous tower.

Something fell into the water with a small splash right next to our boat which made us look around. There was another splash, and another, and another.

I've seen a lot of weird things in my life, but I've never seen birds drop dead in the middle of flying and fish floating up to the surface bellies up.

Dark clouds loomed above and sunlight in the surrounding area was blocked off.

It was as if the area around the tower was cursed.

Goosebumps sprouted all over my body as we got closer to it.

It wasn't a conventional tower. Sitting on a small island, the tower didn't really have any smooth edges, much of it was curved and it spiraled on the outside. I could barely see it, but there was a large sphere with some sort of crystals jutting out of it staring down at us from the top of the tower.

There was a wooden dock and that was where we got off. We couldn't seem to find a clear entrance without exposing ourselves, though.

Juvia said she was gonna try to find a different entrance and dove into the water.

"Why don't we just bust our way in?!" Natsu exclaimed.

'I swear…'

I smacked him on the back of the head.

He glared at me. "What was that for?!"

"For being stupid," I calmly said.

"Lok's right, Natsu," Lucy tried to reason. "We don't know anything about this place. There could be traps for all we know."

Suddenly, Juvia popped her head out of the water and told us there was an underwater cave that led into what looked like a storage room.

Gray seemed impressed. "Wow really? Good job."

She went up to Lucy. "You hear that? Juvia was complimented and not you!" she tauntingly said.

"Yeah, yeah." Lucy sweatdropped.

"Wow, you're awesome," Natsu complimented her. "By the way, who're you again?"

She didn't seem too offended at that.

"How far is it underwater?" I asked.

"We would have to dive for ten minutes."

"Well that's easy," Natsu said.

"Seems simple enough," Gray chimed in.

I sweatdropped.

I spoke loud enough for the others to hear and I asked Lucy, "Can you dive underwater for ten minutes without breathing?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed.

I turned to the others. "There you have it."

Juvia formed spheres of water in her hands.

"Juvia has trapped oxygen in these spheres," she explained. "You can put one over your head to breathe underwater."

That seemed really convenient.

I sighed inwardly.

Oh, the number of missions I could've used those air bubbles for…

She started handing them out, and when she got to me, I decided to introduce myself.

"By the way, my name's Lok."

She smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Lok."

"Nice to meet you too."

We dove into the water and swam to the underwater entrance. After getting out and drying ourselves, courtesy of Natsu's fire, we left the storage room. We made it to some underground area. There were tall, thick pillars used for support and there were bridges that connected them.

Somewhere along the way, Gray somehow lost his shirt and was in the middle of taking off his pants before I slapped his arm. He looked at me, confusion clearly on his face, and I motioned downwards. He looked down and was surprised when he realized what he was doing.

"Oh, crap," he muttered.

Did he seriously not know he was stripping?

Suddenly, the alarm sounded, and armored guards came running from all directions.

"Looks like we were found out anyway," Gray stated the obvious.

Natsu was…enthusiastic, to say the least. "Alright…I'm getting fired up!"

Without any warning, Natsu threw a flaming punch at the ground near some of the guards. The ground exploded, and they went flying.

The guards looked shocked. "Wh-who are these guys?!" one of them asked no one in particular.

"You wanna know who we are?!" Natsu decided to answer them. "We're Fairy Tail, and we're gonna kick your asses!"

He let out a stream of fire from his mouth which not only burned a whole group of guards, but also destroyed some of the bridges.

We all followed his war cry and jumped into action.

" **Ice-Make Lance!** "

" **Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!** "

" **Water Slicer!** "

So Juvia used Water Magic. Interesting.

I landed on a different bridge and was instantly surrounded.

Dark magic circles appeared all around me as I chanted a new spell that I recently learned. " **Dark Barrage.** "

Large, shadowy, bullet-like projectiles were fired at all the guards. The bullets didn't pass through them like some of my other attacks. These ones were fully physical and it did quite a number on the guards. All of the ones before me dropped with dents all over their armor, and I quickly stopped the spell since it still took a lot of concentration.

In a matter of minutes, all of the guards were taken out.

An entrance opened up on one of the pillars and a staircase was lowered right in front of us.

"They're inviting us in?" I asked, puzzled.

"It looks that way," Juvia said.

'Whoever this is seriously doesn't know how to be a proper villain,' I thought. 'This is just asking for a beating.'

Well, there was no other way to get to the upper levels of the tower, so we accepted their invitation.

When we reached the top of the staircase, we were greeted with a large set of doors. We pushed them open, and what we saw was kind of shocking.

'Okay, maybe the ruler of this tower is just an idiot,' I began to think.

In front of us, was a well decorated room with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of the room was a long table with a feast on it.

I looked at the others and noticed that Natsu and Gray were already sat at the table, eating loads of food. Natsu was even eating the fire from the candles that were set on the table.

"You wanna bet whether or not they get poisoned?" I semi-jokingly asked.

Lucy sweatdropped. "I don't think you should joke about that…"

I walked up to the table and poked at the food for a bit.

"Doesn't seem to be poisoned," I notified them.

"How'd you know?" Natsu asked with his mouth full.

"Shitty childhood," I bluntly replied.

I sat down to eat after they stopped questioning me and motioned Juvia and Lucy to join us.

Lucy's spirit, Virgo I think, came and brought her a change of clothes since she was in her bikini.

I was still on guard, ready for a trap to spring itself upon us. The doors at the other end of the room burst open and a group of guards rushed in.

"There they are!" one of them yelled.

They were then attacked from behind and were all knocked unconscious.

Erza charged in, wearing her usual Heart Kreuz armor and with two swords drawn.

"Erza!" almost everyone exclaimed.

I stayed silent and I heard Juvia murmur, "So cool…"

She noticed us and went wide eyed with shock.

"You may not remember me," Juvia started. "Bu-"

"Why are you here?" she quietly asked.

I felt a bit bad when Juvia got interrupted since she looked a bit downcast.

"Well…we're not here on a sightseeing trip, I'll tell you that much," Gray responded sarcastically.

"We came here to save you, obviously," Lucy said.

"And Happy!" Natsu added.

"You guys need to leave…now!" Erza menacingly said.

"You're not gonna scare us into running away," Natsu told her. "I still gotta pay that blockhead back with a punch in the face!"

Natsu then proceeded to run off to look for both Happy and the…blocky one.

"Natsu…" Erza tried to call after him but he was gone.

Gray sighed. "Man, that guy's a moron."

"Let's go help him," Lucy suggested.

Erza raised her sword to block us off.

"No," she firmly said. "All of you need to leave. Now."

We looked at her in surprise.

"Milliana is a cat lover," she continued. "She wouldn't harm Happy. I promise that I'll bring him and Natsu back with me, but you four need to leave immediately."

"We can help you, Erza," Lucy tried to reason.

Erza turned away. "I don't want your help. This is my problem and mine only. Don't get involved."

"I'd say we're plenty involved now," Gray piped up.

"Erza…how come you know these people? And what is this tower?" I decided to ask. "I understand if you don't want to tell us…but we're family, and we care about you a lot."

Lucy, Gray, and Juvia smiled at my statement.

'Besides,' I thought. 'I can't have anyone else slitting your throat.'

"Leave!" Erza tried once more.

I raised an eyebrow. Her behavior was odd. How she acted at the guild and on the mission was completely different from how she acted now.

"You're freaking us out," Gray voiced everyone's thoughts. "What happened to the old Erza who would tell us to shut up and follow?"

Erza turned around and we were all silenced with shock.

That was because Erza Scarlet, the one I deemed as a fierce and prideful knight, was crying.

She wiped away the tears from her left eye and took a deep breath before speaking.

"This place is called the Tower of Heaven, otherwise known as the R-system," Erza began. "And around a decade ago, I was taken here as a slave…"

* * *

A slave, huh?

I hated slavery, but her death wouldn't have weighed too heavily on my conscience.

Erza finished her story, and there were no words we could offer her.

She was crying again. "I have to fight Jellal. I have no other choice."

"This Jellal guy sounds like he could use some therapy," I said nonchalantly. "I mean…who would randomly start preaching some legendary black wizard?"

"I don't know his motives, but the Jellal I once knew is gone."

I saw something in the corner of my eye and started walking towards it.

"Shouldn't your old fr- Lok?"

I could feel their gazes on me as I walked towards the two doors Natsu ran out of.

A very human-like shadow stuck out from behind one of them.

I held a dagger in my left hand as I steeled myself.

In one fluid motion, I whipped open the door and held the knife at the person's neck.

"Nee-san…why are you lying to them?"

A wide-eyed Shô stood at my mercy.

"Shô…"

"Are you trying to make yourself look like a martyr to get sympathy from your friends?!" Shô began yelling. "Tell them the truth, Nee-san! You betrayed Jellal and abandoned us!"

I could see the fear etched on Shô's face as I pushed the knife further.

"How well do you know Erza?" I asked him.

He looked at me.

I didn't give him a chance to answer. "If you knew her, you would know that she'd never betray her friends like that." Like I would know.

"Stop…"

"If you knew her, you would've realized that she never wanted to leave you behind and that she was forced to."

"Stop…"

"You believed the first rumor you heard about Erza. Doesn't that mean your trust in her was weak from the start?"

"STOP!"

I looked at him with disgust as my right hand was soon covered in shadows."You don't deserve to call her 'Nee-san'."

I was about to knock him unconscious before Erza's words stopped me. "Don't hurt him, Lok. I'm sure Jellal fed them all sorts of convincing lies. Besides, in a way, I guess you could say I betrayed their trust."

"You expect me to believe all of that?" Shô wasn't finished. "You weren't there…Jellal promised us true freedom once we built this tower! Are you telling me that he's been lying to us all these years?!"

"That's right."

All eyes turned towards the direction of the voice as the air shimmered and a man appeared.

It was the one named Simon.

Gray looked pissed. "Why, you…"

Juvia held an arm out in front of him. "Wait. He never meant us any harm. Back at the resort, he saw through your decoy, but attacked it anyway. Tell me, why did you spare us?"

"As expected from one of Phantom's Element Four."

"You were lying too…?" Shô squeaked out. "Why?"

Simon put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. But I had to fool you and the others into thinking that I killed him. And I had hoped that our attack would lead them here."

"…" Shô was speechless.

"Jellal had you under a spell, and there was nothing I could've said to convince you otherwise. I played along until now."

Erza stared at him with wide eyes. "So…does that mean?"

Simon turned to her. "I never stopped believing in you, Erza."

"…Simon…"

Erza had tears running down her cheek when they embraced.

"I don't get it…" Shô sunk down on to his hands and knees. "How could you trust Nee-san like that? How come I couldn't trust her like that…"

"I know I left you all alone," Erza told him as she embraced him too. "But I never once forgot about any of you. I was too weak to save all of you back then, but I'm stronger now. Please forgive me."

Simon turned to the rest of us and said, "I know you barely know us, but for Erza's sake more than ours, please end this nightmare."

Erza was shocked. "Wha-"

"Like you needed to ask," Gray smirkingly said.

Confident smiles dawned Lucy's and Juvia's faces.

I glared menacingly at Simon.

He noticed and quickly said, "Of course, I do apologize for slamming you into the wall. I needed to make the act look believable."

I glared at him a bit longer before sighing and putting away my dagger. "Don't worry about it. I guess I can see where you're coming from."

I understood it all too well.

"It's too dangerous," Erza attempted to convince us otherwise. "You don't need have t-"

"Think about it this way," I interrupted her. "We're being selfish. We're gonna save you since we don't wanna live with the guilt if we just left you to die."

"We want to, Erza," Lucy assured her with a soft smile. "Because you're our friend."

" _You really don't ha-"_

" _We want to, Aster."_

" _Yeah, you're our friend."_

"…thank you, everyone," Erza quietly said.

At that sincere moment, I genuinely thought about telling them my name, but decided against it.

* * *

We ran through the corridors, trying to get to the top of the tower. Though I felt like we were running in circles.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Tower of Heaven," a man's voice boomed. "I am Jellal, and I am the ruler of this tower. I plan on using Erza as a sacrifice to resurrect Lord Zeref, but before that, I would like to invite you all to play a game. The rules are very simple, you see. If I am able to capture Erza and use her as a sacrifice., you lose. But, if you manage to defeat me, you win. To level the playing fields, I've enlisted three knights to battle on my behalf. In other words, this will be a three on nine battle."

'He's not including himself?' I pondered. 'Must be that confident.'

Jellal continued. "To make matters more interesting, the Magic Council is planning on firing an Etherion blast at the tower. When that happens, all of us will perish and there will be no winners. In other words, the game has a time limit. The game starts now." And the voice cut off.

"What kind of messed up game is this?!"

"Why would the Magic Council fire the Etherion?!"

"Who are the three knights?"

My comrades' questions went unanswered.

I could feel the tension, the confusion, the fear, and the hatred from the rest of the group.

Suddenly, Shô used his magic to trap Erza in a card.

"What are you doing, Shô?" a shocked Simon asked.

He ran off while yelling, "I won't let Jellal capture Erza…I'll beat him myself if I have to!"

"Wait, you can't do it alone!" Simon yelled after him, but he was already gone.

I motioned everyone over. "Since we're already a part of this, we're gonna need a game plan. Jellal seems to be confident enough that his three knights can beat all of us here, so how should we play this?"

"You actually plan on going through with this crazy game of his?" Gray asked.

"How else are we gonna stop him?"

"…true."

"So… should we stick together and hope that we find them one by one? There would be a high chance that they would all come at us at the same time, though."

"I guess we split up."

"You guys make the groups, then," I instructed them. "I'll go look for Shô and Erza."

"Good luck!" Lucy told me.

I started walking off and waved back at them.

I melted into the shadows and shot off in the same direction as Shô and Erza.

"Who knows…maybe I'll get a lucky break. If Erza somehow escapes Shô's card and finds one of the knights, I could join in on the fight, and use the confusion to kill Erza. Then I could blame it on the knights and kill them 'in a fit of rage'," I murmured to myself.

* * *

Erza couldn't believe it.

The assassin, Ikaruga, managed to cut through almost all of her most powerful armors without breaking a sweat.

The bridge they were fighting on was now broken in many different areas.

"Nee-san…" Shô worriedly called out.

I gave it another shot with one of my strongest armors.

" **Requip: Purgatory Armor!** "

She was now wearing a black armor set with spikes protruding from her arms, shoulders, and legs. A large, spiked club appeared in her hands.

"The ones who have seen this armor never lasted long enough to see its full potential," Erza said menacingly.

She charged forward and swung the club at Ikaruga. The assassin deflected the strike with one of her own. Erza kept up on the offensive, but Ikaruga was having no trouble parrying and dodging her attacks. And when Erza attempted a strike at her legs to knock her off balance, Ikaruga jumped above it, unsheathed her sword, and in a split second, slashed multiple times before returning her blade to its proper place.

Erza yelled in pain as her armor broke apart and she knelt on the ground, feeling defeated.

"How sad," Ikaruga mockingly said. "You were never able to reach Jellal in the end."

She prepared to draw her sword again to cut me down, but before doing so, she suddenly turned around and sliced through a shadowy object flying towards her. Erza couldn't clearly see the object but it dispersed on impact.

Lok walked out on to the broken bridge. Her hair and skirt swayed a bit from the draft. She held a knife in each hand, but she seemed a bit too lax.

Erza then looked at her face.

This was the most apprehensive look Erza had ever seen before on the shadow mage's face.

'She's serious,' Erza thought.

* * *

Well, shit.

Things weren't looking too good. Erza was on the ground, injured and tired, and Shô was hanging from the side of the bridge, trying not to fall.

Also, I knew exactly who I was about to face.

Ikaruga of Trinity Raven from the Death's Head Caucus guild.

Doc once told me about them. The other two members were supposedly as strong as mid-level Senior Assassins, but their leader was apparently as strong as our strongest Seniors.

This worried me. I knew I had enough skill to surpass some of the mid-level Seniors, but I didn't have enough experience yet to face the stronger ones.

One thing was obvious: I was gonna lose.

…at least I could confidently say that Natsu's hair was indeed salmon, because this woman's hair was definitely pink, and not the same color as his.

'Alright then…time to scrap those plans about killing Erza. Gotta focus on escaping here alive.'

"And who might you be?" Ikaruga asked me.

"…"

"How rude."

I swear I saw her smirk.

I reached a broken pillar on the side of the bridge and stood in its shadow.

" **Shadow Step.** "

I sunk into the shadow. Not even a moment later, I reappeared behind Ikaruga in her own shadow and rose up to stab her.

She saw the attack coming.

She unsheathed her sword and slashed behind her at an incredible speed. Instead of continuing my assault, I jumped back and narrowly avoided her blade.

My knives shattered.

I looked at the floor where I was just standing. The wood had multiple new gashes in it, and it was then that I realized that in the split second she drew her sword, she had slashed at me multiple times.

I threw aside the broken knives and took out two fresh ones from my pockets.

I had a plan…okay, more like a theory.

I rushed in, using Strength Magic in my legs to push off the ground harder. I quickly drew some throwing daggers from my thigh and threw them directly at Ikaruga's face. She easily deflected them, her sword slash even going through the flying daggers. I had to duck to not get decapitated, but at least she was now within knife range. I slashed at her legs and she jumped back. I didn't let her rest and followed her. When she drew her sword, I barely saw the attacks coming. I tried to deflect them using my knives, but they just shattered like the last pair. They did severely weaken the attacks, so I survived with only some cuts along my torso and arms.

I didn't even try to gain some distance. I needed to keep up my momentum.

I launched myself at her again, narrowly dodging a stab aimed for my chest and forming a shadowy spear in my hand. I thrust it at her and she sidestepped out of the way. I swung the spear at her and she blocked it with her sword. We kept this up for quite a while. I was constantly thrusting my spear at her, and she was constantly dodging and parrying. Once in while, when I saw the chance, I would throw in a strengthened kick to see if I could catch her off guard. Her shin, her torso, her thigh, her stomach…anywhere would've worked.

They all missed.

In fact, this entire time, it felt like she wasn't even trying…and that pissed me off to no end.

I thrusted the spear at her head, and she simply moved her head to the side before entering my guard. I was forced to jump back, and I formed a shield in my other hand to block whatever attacks came at me. The impact of the slashes was able to knock me off my feet and off of the bridge. I saw her preparing another assault, so I threw the spear at her which she obviously deflected. I then formed a long, shadowy rope and threw it towards one of the pillars. It wrapped itself around it and I pulled. I swung back towards her, let go of the rope, and formed a shadowy sword in my right hand.

It was payback time.

When I swung it towards her, she moved to intercept it with her blade, but my sword passed through hers. Her eyes widened, and she bent backwards to avoid getting hit. I formed a second shadowy sword in my other hand and continued my assault. When she dodged my first attack, she instantly slashed at me. I blocked it with the sword in my right hand and returned an attack with the one in my left. My blade passed through hers and she jumped back.

After continuing this for some time, Ikaruga looked like she was getting a bit annoyed. She gained some distance and looked at her sword.

She could tell.

She glared at me. "What did you do?"

I smirked. My theory was proven to be true.

"That's a magic katana, right?"

She didn't answer.

Every time my swords passed through hers, a little magic was drained from her weapon, effectively rendering its attacks weaker and weaker as the fight continued. I also kept switching which sword was non-physical. Sometimes, they were even both physical, just to confuse her since she couldn't tell by just looking at them.

Although, even with her weakened katana, she was able to keep up with me.

"You had enough rest yet, Erza?" I questioned the girl behind me.

She walked up and stood beside me, glaring defiantly at the pink-haired assassin.

Erza was wearing different clothes, except it wasn't armor.

She held a katana in each hand, had bandages wrapped around her chest, and wore red trousers that reached her ankles which had gold, flame-like patterns at the bottom.

Ikaruga smirked. "No armor this time?"

"I wore armor to shield my heart from the pain. But it only made things worse. I was too afraid to remove it, and I never connected with anyone because I closed my heart. I was scared of the pain I felt from being used and betrayed. But I won't hide anymore," Erza confidently said. "I have Fairy Tail now. They showed me the warmth of companionship, they showed me what it was like to be loved…and they showed me that it was okay to trust others. So I will defeat you. For my friends, for Fairy Tail, and for myself."

I nodded approvingly. "Couldn't have said it any better."

We launched ourselves towards Ikaruga.

" **Garuda Flame,** " she called out as she swung her sword in a wide arc.

A flaming slash was headed towards us, but with our combined defensive maneuvers, we dispersed the attack. We attacked her at the same time. Erza slashed with her swords, and I was constantly switching between shadow weapons.

I was quickly tiring out since I was strengthening every attack with magic, but I could see it one Ikaruga's face. She was struggling to handle both of us at once, and she was starting to get overpowered. She jumped back to a more relaxing distance to recompose herself.

That was what I thought, but she pulled one more trick out of her sleeve.

" **Yasha's Empty Flash,** " Ikaruga chanted with her sword still sheathed.

"DODGE," Erza yelled at me as she followed her own advice.

Ikaruga drew her sword the slightest bit, and I sidestepped, but I was a bit too late.

Blood splattered on the ground.

At first, I just felt numb. But then, I felt unimaginable pain and fell to the ground.

"LOK!" Erza screamed.

I screamed, tears pricking the corners of my eyes, as I held my left arm.

Or where it used to be, at least.

Everything past the bicep was cleanly cut off.

It now lay on the ground a few feet away.

In a futile attempt to stop or slow down the bleeding, I ripped off part of my skirt and covered my wounded area.

I clenched my teeth.

The pain was more excruciating than anything I'd ever felt before. At least Doc never severed my limbs.

It hurt. It hurt so much. And I couldn't do anything to lessen the pain. I simply lay there in a pool of my own blood.

The loss of blood was getting to me as my vision started to blur.

"Er-Erza," I managed to say. "R-rush in. Her sword…it's not as powerful as it was before."

She looked surprised. "Wha-"

"Just trust me!"

Those words seemed to resonate with her. She nodded and turned her gaze back to our opponent.

Ikaruga was ready.

And with a battlecry, Erza charged towards her. Ikaruga moved to unsheath her sword…except she couldn't. Her eyes widened when she looked down. Shadowy chains that emerged from her own shadow restrained her from moving any part of her body.

" **Bind** …" I croaked out.

Erza finished it all in an instant.

"Truly impressive…" was all Ikaruga managed to say before falling.

Erza pulled Shô up and they both ran towards me.

I lay there, tired and bloody, and close to blacking out.

"Lok, stay conscious," Erza firmly told me.

I turned my head to my left where she kneeled beside me.

She requipped bandages into her hands and went to work.

Tch.

My pride would've told me to get up and do it myself, but I was too tired to move.

"You were too reckless…" Erza said with a soft smile.

I drew in a shallow breath before speaking. "Recklessness and carelessness are two different things."

She didn't say anything.

"I need to sleep…" I told her. "I'm a bit…tired."

I closed my eyes, but before passing out, I felt the sensation of someone patting my head.

* * *

Shô was carrying me on his back when I woke up.

"Where are we going?" I groggily asked.

"To meet up with the rest of your friends," he simply responded. "We're escaping the tower before the Council fires Etherion."

"And where's Erza?"

"Have faith in her."

"…"

I got down from his back and sat on the ground.

"What are you doing?"

"You go on ahead," I told him. "I'm gonna rest here for a bit."

"Etherion fires in less than fifteen minutes!"

"Don't worry…I'm fast."

He moved to grab me by the arm but I glared at him to make him stop.

"Hurry up and go," I urged him.

"…are you sure?"

"I'll be right behind you, okay?"

"Okay…"

He started walking away, and then he broke into a run, but not before giving me one last look.

"Idiots…all around me…" I muttered as I stood up.

I looked at the blood-stained bandages that were wrapped around my left side.

I shook my head in disappointment and started walking in the opposite direction.

* * *

Erza had the upper hand. Jellal was pinned beneath her and she had her sword at his throat.

"What's your true goal?" Erza demanded.

Jellal scowled but said nothing.

"I know the R-system is incomplete," Erza continued. "You're lacking something."

Jellal smirked. "I already told you. You're the sacrifice."

"No…it's more fundamental than that." Jellal stopped smiling at that. "During the years I've been away from this tower, I've researched it relentlessly. It was constructed perfectly, everything was theoretically correct, but you're still lacking one thing…magic power."

Jellal stared blankly at her.

Erza narrowed her eyes at him. "Despite knowing that the Council is about to fire Etherion, you did nothing to try to escape. I find that highly suspicious."

"Three minutes until Etherion is fired," Jellal smirkingly said.

"Do you want to die like this!?" Erza yelled at him.

Jellal grimaced a bit when she tightened the hold on his arm.

"If that's so, then we'll die together!" Erza loudly stated.

"To be honest, that doesn't sound too bad," Jellal calmly stated.

Erza was taken aback.

"After all," he continued. "I'm just a puppet used to resurrect Zeref. I can't even control my own body."

Erza was shocked. "…you were possessed?"

"I couldn't save myself. And none of my friends could either. That was when I realized, that paradise was nowhere to be found, that true freedom was just a myth, and that everything ended before it even began."

The tower began to shake.

Jellal wasn't finished. "I knew it was impossible to complete the R-system, but Zeref's spirit wouldn't allow me to stop. Erza…you win."

Her eyes widened. "Wha-"

"Stop me here. It's what you came to do, right?"

Erza surprisingly let go of him and stood up. "…there's no longer any need for me to do it. Etherion will fire any second now. It's over…for both you and me." She requipped away her sword. "You were just another victim of Zeref."

"It was my own fault for losing to my own weakness. I couldn't handle the gap between my dreams and reality."

"That's what friends are for. They make up for your flaws and weaknesses."

"Erza…"

"I'm sorry, for not being able to save you. Will you forgive me?"

She gave him a sad smile.

He returned it.

"You have saved me," he quietly said.

Debris rained down around them as the tower began to fall apart. They were about to embrace, when suddenly, a dagger flew through the air and embedded itself in Jellal's shoulder. He staggered backwards, grasping at the weapon and glaring in the direction from which it came.

A voice was heard right before the light of Etherion blinded them all.

"Crazy ass lunatic."

* * *

 **A/N:** **I, for one, dislike Jellal (fight me).**

 **Anyway, the next chapter might conclude this arc. And I say 'might' because it depends on what I do with the fight scene. Chances are, as some of you might expect after reading this chapter, Aster won't be of much help with only one arm, so if most of the fight happens like it does in canon…yeah.**

 **Also, I'm predicting the next chapter to come out sometime around mid-late October. Sorry about that. If I miraculously finish the next one before midterm week…then I might be a wizard. If I don't…then it means I'm just a normal human being. Bummer.**

 **See you all next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** **Apologies. I've had a bunch of reports to write (Trust me…I'd much rather write this). Obviously wasn't gonna finish the chapter before midterms…but one could always hope. About having a cover pic for the story. If I ever have any ideas, I'll add one.**

 **List of obvious excus- things I was and will be busy with from now on: homework/assignments/exams and catching up with shows.**

 **But anyway, Fairy Tail 2018 is out. Don't know if I'll be watching it since I'm trying to catch up on other stuff, but we'll see. Also, I just watched Made in Abyss (I'm a bit late, I know), and I can wholeheartedly say that it and A Place Further Than The Universe are my favorite anime out of the ones I've watched this year.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 - Tower's Light**

"You have saved me," the blue-haired guy quietly said. He was most likely Jellal.

They were millimeters from embracing when I saw it.

I knew what it looked like. I had seen it enough times when talking to Doc.

That sinister smile. That crazed look in his eyes.

I sighed in disappointment. Erza was too naïve.

Betrayed once? Shame on him.

Betrayed twice? Shame on her.

It really pissed me off…so I decided to ruin their little moment.

I watched as the dagger left my hand and embedded itself in Jellal's shoulder.

"Crazy ass lunatic," I said as I stepped out from the shadows.

I struggled to hold myself upright when the ground shook violently. Light surrounded us as Etherion was about to hit the tower. I could see Erza's shocked expression and Jellal's scowl before my vision was blinded by white and I decided to close my eyes.

I slowly opened them when the light started to fade.

"I knew it…" I trailed off as I looked around me. The top of the tower, where we stood, was no longer blocked from the outside. Instead, we were treated to a view of the night sky which stretched as far as the sea. The floor, pillars, ceiling, and leftover walls had all turned into bluish crystal.

Jellal narrowed his eyes. "How did you know?"

Erza was still a bit shaken up. "Lok, what do you mean?"

"This tower's a giant lacrima crystal," I told Erza then stoically said to Jellal, "I may or may not have 'accidentally' broken a bit of your precious tower on the way up."

"No matter," said a voice to my left. "In your weakened state, you won't be able to do anything."

A person walked into the clearing, and it turned out to be a second Jellal.

I briefly glanced at him before doing a double take.

'Wait, what?'

"Siegrain! What is the meaning of this?!" Erza demanded.

I looked between Jellal and the newcomer, Siegrain.

"Erza, who's this?" I asked confused.

"Siegrain, Jellal's twin brother. He's part of the Magic Council," she responded while glaring at the man.

"Twin brother, huh?" He must've been relatively new, since I hadn't seen him before. Then again, it had been a few years since I dealt with the council.

I looked at him and I saw it. The slighted shimmer in his outline.

Before any of them could move, I threw a dagger at Siegrain and sure enough, it passed right through and hit the crystal behind him.

Everyone's eyes were wide except mine.

"I've seen better thought projections and illusions than this half-assed crap," I said flatly. "I guess that's how you got them to fire the Etherion."

Jellal smirked. "Oh? I'm impressed. Even the council didn't suspect it."

'Of course they didn't,' I thought. 'Rarely anyone uses thought projections and Illusion Magic anymore.'

"Is the Council always this careless?" I half-jokingly asked.

Jellal cackled. "Those old fools were oblivious to everything that happened right under their noses!"

"Clearly," I deadpanned.

"Well," Jellal said as he and Siegrain merged into one body. "If you don't mind me, I'll be using Erza to resur-"

I didn't let him finish as I disappeared and reappeared in his shadow. Catching him off guard, I rose up and was able to thrust a shadowy spear straight through his chest, draining some of his magic power in the process. He grunted and tried to swing his arm back to strike me in the face with his elbow, but I disappeared into his shadow and reappeared in my original spot. The speared coiled around my arm and entered my body through my side. I sighed as I felt a bit of magic flow into me.

Jellal looked a bit peeved. "That won't happen again."

"Wanna bet?"

" **Meteor**!" Golden light surrounded Jellal as he pushed off the ground and flew towards me at incredible speed.

I formed a shadow sword in my hand and swung it in a horizontal arc, intending to cut him off. He ducked below the blade and went right past me. I turned around and my eyes widened as I received a light-covered fist to the face. I tumbled backwards from the hit before flipping myself back on to my feet and regaining my balance. I didn't have time to catch my breath as Jellal was right in front of me again. I did my best to block and parry his punches and kicks, but I was at a clear disadvantage with only one arm. He sent a lightning fast kick into my left leg, pushing it backwards and forcing me to lean forward. The next thing I saw was his knee right in front of my face. I quickly leaned backwards, dodging it, but was then punched in the chest and was sent rolling on to the ground. He rushed towards me before I could regain my balance and drove his knee into my stomach. I was sent flying into a lacrima pillar, the impact making a dent in the crystal.

I clenched my teeth and grunted in pain as I fell to the floor. I shakingly got up, leaning my shoulder against the pillar and grasping my stomach in pain.

"LOK!" Erza yelled. "You're in no shape to fight!"

I felt really tired. I coughed up a bit of blood.

She was right. I had no chance of winning.

'Is this really all that worth it?' I asked myself, swallowing my pride. 'Probably not.'

But how else was I gonna escape?

While keeping an eye on Jellal, I examined my surroundings, looking for escape routes. There weren't any unless I considered jumping off the side of the tower, and I seriously didn't think that I could climb down in my condition.

'Guess I'll have to depend on Natsu. He'll be here any minute…hopefully.'

I turned my full attention back to Jellal and waited for his next move.

Jellal smirked. "It's such a shame that you got injured in your fight with Ikaruga. This would've been more entertaining if you were at full power."

I looked over to Erza who was still on her knees. "Hey, Erza! A little help would be nice."

She snapped out of her stupor and stood up, sending a glare towards Jellal.

" **Bind Snake** ," Jellal said as Erza's body was restricted. She grunted as the rune-like spell tightened around her. Jellal smirked. "I put it on you during our fight earlier."

He turned back towards me. He pushed off the ground and, in a matter of half a second, he was before me. I raised my hand in front of my body and formed the shadows into a shield. I felt the impact of his attack and skidded backwards. He shot off again. Anticipating his next move, I quickly turned around, strengthened my right leg, and raised it to block a kick which was aimed at my ribs. Losing my arm made my body a bit unbalanced, so I swayed from the impact. Using his momentum and my temporary lack of balance, he jumped, spun midair, and his right heel collided with my right shoulder. I grimaced as I was sent flying. When I landed, I turned into a shadow and snaked around, trying to avoid Jellal.

"Well if all you're going to do is hide, then I guess we better carry on with the ceremony," Jellal said before quickly dashing over towards Erza.

'Oh, crap,' I thought before switching directions and heading over to them.

A large lacrima crystal rose out of the ground behind Erza and, since she couldn't move, Jellal easily pushed her into it. The crystal started to absorb her body, and Jellal began to cackle.

Erza kept shouting out his name.

Disgust. Hatred. Hurt. I could hear it all in her voice.

Still within the shadows, I extended my right arm towards him, and shadowy tendrils flew forward. Before he could shoot off again, the tendrils wrapped themselves around him, and lifted him off the ground. I quickly motioned my arm as if I was throwing something downwards and the tendrils followed the movement. Jellal crashed into the floor, letting out a pained grunt. Attempting to repeat the process, I motioned the tendrils to move towards him again, but this time he knew what to expect. He easily dodged them and shot off in a burst of golden light with the tendrils chasing after him. He swerved around until suddenly changing directions. I looked over at where he was heading and let out a relieved sigh.

Natsu had pulled Erza out of the lacrima.

It was time for a break. Not paying attention to my comrades' conversation, I pulled myself out of the shadows and dispersed the tendrils to conserve magic. I used way too much today and it wasn't like Jellal was gonna let his enemy drain him.

But I had an idea.

While Jellal was distracted by Natsu and Erza, I moved to a lacrima pillar and put my hand on it. Instantly, I could feel a tingling sensation as I pushed a bit of my shadows into it. Magic flowed into my body at a steady rate.

'Don't overdo it,' I told myself. 'There's only so much magic a person can contain.'

I looked over to the trio and winced when I saw Natsu punch Erza in the stomach hard enough to knock her out.

'There's a much easier w-' I internally sighed. 'Nevermind.'

Natsu then noticed me. His eyes met mine as he gave me a wide grin, but then his smile dropped and his eyes went wide. His eyes were no longer on my own. They were on my left arm.

"Lok…what happened to your arm?" he slowly asked.

"One of the assassins got to me."

His face contorted with anger as he turned back to Jellal.

He looked furious, and when he spoke, his voice was filled with venom. "You hired assassins to kill my friends. You even betrayed yours. You hurt Lok. And you made Erza cry." He balled up his fists as they lit on fire. "You make me sick."

Jellal simply smirked.

"Lok, you ready?" Natsu asked without even looking over.

I sighed. There were remnants of the shadow between my hand and the lacrima as I separated from it. I was nowhere near full on magic, but I was also no longer facing Jellal on my own since Natsu arrived.

"Sure," I responded without much enthusiasm.

One stoic, one furious, and one smirking. We all rushed forward at once, beginning our final showdown.

* * *

The fight was long, and Jellal was keeping up with the two of us.

" **Barrage!** " I shouted as shadowy bullets flew out of my open palm and towards Jellal.

"Not good enough!" he yelled before shooting off in a burst of light and dodging the projectiles.

What he didn't account for, was Natsu being directly in his path. Natsu drove his fist into Jellal's face and sent him my way. I strengthened my legs and pushed off towards him. Timing it correctly, I prepared to send a kick straight into his abdomen, but he twisted his body around, caught the kick midair, and used it to propel himself away to gain some distance. Natsu, however, didn't allow him to rest as he launched himself at Jellal once more. Jellal retaliated by shooting beams of light towards him. Natsu dodged most of them but the last one hit and sent him flying.

" **Bind!** " I sent a few shadowy chains out, most of them towards Jellal and one at Natsu. Jellal obviously dispersed them as if they were nothing, but what he wasn't prepared for, was a flaming roar from Natsu at point blank range. The one chain I sent towards Natsu had successfully wrapped itself around his ankle and pulled him in. The roar not only blew Jellal back, but also destroyed the ground where it hit, meaning that there was now a huge hole.

I rushed towards Jellal and swung my sword at him. He was dodging them so easily and when I tried stabbing the shadowy blade into his chest, he kicked upwards, and his foot collided with my wrist. He smirked as he thrusted an open palm towards me. He released a beam of light which directly hit my chest and I was forced backwards.

I skidded to a stop and panted heavily as I tried to catch my breath. I had close to no magic left, my right cheek felt bruised, my skirt was tattered, I had no more daggers left, and the bandages on my forearm hung loosely, threatening to fall off at any moment.

I looked over to Natsu and he seemed somewhat worn out as well. He had lost his sandals along the way, was bruised in several places, but he still stood.

What pissed me off, was that Jellal wasn't beaten. In fact, he looked more pissed off than I was, and I could probably guess why.

The tower was a bit of a wreck now. Craters dotted the ground, pillars were toppled over in heaps of rubble, and there was even a hole in the ceiling.

"You two have done it now," Jellal snarled. "It'll be over soon."

He jumped up and moved his hands in a strange way.

" **Be judged by the Seven Stars! Seven Stars Sword, Grand Chariot!"**

Seven magic circles appeared above him, all connected to look like a constellation of some sort. A stream of light shot out of each circle, directly at us.

" **Shadow Dome!** " I shouted as a dark shell covered me. Natsu was too far away and I didn't have enough magic to cover a large area, so he had to fend for himself.

I thought I was safe, that my shell could hold out with the little magic power I had left, that Jellal's attack wouldn't be strong enough.

Oh, how wrong I was.

My eyes widened in shock as a stream of light burst right through the darkness and hit the ground in front of me. It exploded on impact and I was sent flying into one of the only pillars still upright.

When I collided with it, I hit my head and my world went dark once more.

* * *

Erza slowly opened her eyes and groaned. She pushed herself off the ground and as she rubbed her bruised stomach.

She looked around and her eyes widened.

Natsu was still fighting, but she could see his many injuries and knew he wouldn't last much longer.

'Where's Lok?' she asked herself.

Erza kept looking until she found her, slumped on the ground next to a pillar which had a large dent in it. She rushed over to examine her wounded friend. Kneeling beside her, she saw that Lok's head was bleeding and that she had cuts and bruises all over her body, but what shocked her the most, was her forearm. Sometime during the battle, the bandages along her forearm tore, exposing the skin underneath, and it wasn't a pretty sight for Erza.

'Where did she get these?'

The burns didn't look too old, so she might've gotten them recently. She looked to the left side of Lok's body and flinched a bit when she saw a pool of blood. She turned to see Jellal's back towards them and took the chance to rebandage Lok's major injury. She finished with a sigh and propped Lok's body up against the pillar in a sitting position.

An explosion sounded behind her and she turned around.

"NATSU!" Erza screamed as he fell to the ground.

"Now to finish off the punk who tried to destroy my tower!" A sinister look dawned Jellal's face as he crossed his arms above his head. A magic circle formed where his hands were before disappearing, then the winds picked up and the shadows started bending towards the light. A dark, circular sphere formed above Jellal and it started increasing in size.

'That spell…it could kill Natsu!' Erza alarmingly thought.

And so, she did the only thing she could think of which could save her friend. She jumped in front of him and spread her arms out.

"Jellal!" she yelled. "You need me as a sacrifice, right? So if you kill him, you kill me too!"

"Erza, what're you doing?!" a shocked Natsu demanded. "Move!"

Jellal's spell never stopped, however, and kept growing in size.

"All it has to be is a wizard on par with the Ten Wizard Saints…it doesn't have to be you, Erza," Jellal relied rather calmly before adopting a crazed look. "Disappear into oblivion, both of you. **Altairis!** "

He was about to hurl the dark sphere of magic at them. Erza braced herself.

'I'll protect you, Natsu…'

It all happened at once.

A large figure launched themselves in front of Erza as Jellal launched his attack.

Except…the attack missed. Erza's eyes followed it as, instead of burrowing down on them, it went towards their right and hit the lacrima wall behind them, exploding on impact and creating a large hole in the tower.

Erza, shocked, turned to find out that Simon was the one who stepped in front of her, intending to take the spell head-on. He looked just as surprised as she did and they both looked at Jellal.

Erza's eyes widened as she noticed a thin, shadowy tendril protruding from Jellal's right shoulder.

An awake Lok, sitting in the same position Erza left her in, with her hand outstretched, told Erza exactly what had happened.

'She looks exhausted,' Erza thought.

The shadow retracted and went back to the Shadow Mage. Lok sighed as she lowered her slightly trembling arm and rested her hand against the lacrima pillar she was leaning against.

Erza saw her eyes widen as she looked over at their group. She followed her gaze and it led towards the person behind her.

Erza spun around and, like Lok, her eyes widened.

Natsu was eating the ethernano.

* * *

'NATSU, YOU DUMBASS!'

This guy was just eating the ethernano as if it wasn't about to kill him.

"Ethernano contains more than one element, Natsu!" Erza yelled.

I quickly calmed myself as I concentrated on draining magic from the pillar.

Natsu was now rolling around with his hands on his throat as if he was choking. Soon enough, he stopped moving. I heard Erza scream his name as she ran towards him.

But then, I saw a miracle occur. He put his right palm on the floor, then his left, and he slowly pushed himself up on to his knees. He stood up and let out a roar. I flinched as I could feel the pressure from his magic.

He moved towards Jellal and they resumed their fight, and I could only marvel at the sight before me as Natsu was completely overwhelming his opponent.

In the meantime, Erza and Simon moved over to where I was sitting.

"Are you okay?" Erza asked me.

"I'm too tired to even stand…so I'm as okay as I'll ever be in my situation."

"…"

Simon took that chance to speak up. "Thank you for saving me…back there, I mean."

I stared at him before returning my gaze to the one-sided fight. "No problem."

'Wasn't like I was trying to save you, anyway. Didn't even know you were there.'

"Hey, Lok." I turned my head towards Erza. "What are you doing?" She was staring at my hand which was rested on the pillar.

"Draining the magic energy in the pillar," I briefly replied.

"You can do that?!" Erza and Simon both exclaimed.

I moved my hand to show them the shadowy strands that connected it and the pillar before moving my hand back to its position.

"My non-physical shadows can drain it, remember?"

"R-right."

"How come you didn't start convulsing like Natsu?" Simon asked.

"While Natsu physically consumed the ethernano, I'm only draining some of its energy. It's different."

"O…kay."

"Why don't you two help Natsu?" I asked.

They both wore sheepish smiles. "I think we'll just get in his way."

The tower shook, and I looked on to see Natsu pummeling Jellal through the floor.

"True enough."

Soon enough, Jellal was lying on his back unconscious. Natsu walked back over to us, gave us a toothy grin, and said, "Told you I would beat him!"

Erza smiled and hummed. "I guess you did."

Natsu then fell unconscious and Erza had to catch him to prevent him from face-planting.

"You did well," Erza murmured.

The tower shook once again, but this time, it wasn't from Natsu's rampage. The shaking was continuous, and our eyes widened as the crystal around us started to light up.

"What's happening?" Erza asked worriedly.

A look of realization dawned Simon's face as he responded, "Do you think…that the tower can't handle this much magic power and is trying to release it somehow?"

Our eyes collectively widened.

"Oh, shit…" I cursed.

"I think I might know of a way to stop it…" Erza trailed off as she stared in a certain direction.

I followed her gaze and it led to the lacrima crystal Jellal had almost forced her into.

She took a step forward. But then she stopped.

She turned back and asked, "Care to let me go, Lok?"

My grip around her wrist tightened.

I manipulated my shadows to lift Natsu up and slap him in the face multiple times.

"Hey Natsu, time to wake up!" I shouted at him.

"HUH?! YOU WANNA FIGHT, GRA-huh? Where am I?" he wondered out loud before standing up and looking around.

"Natsu, we're leaving," I simply said.

"Huh? Really? And what's happening to the tower?"

I turned to Simon. "Do you think we have enough time to make it down the tower?"

"Not at this rate," he replied while looking at the growing brightness of the glowing crystal.

"Any other suggestions?"

Erza opened her mouth to speak but I instantly said, "No."

"But if I do it, you guys will live," she countered.

"You really think that we would want you to do that for us?"

"…"

I wasn't finished. "Think about how the guild would feel. You really think everyone will continue smiling after you sacrifice yourself?"

"HUH?!" Natsu exclaimed rather obnoxiously. "What's she talking about, Erza?!"

Simon seemed to figure it out as he let out a deep sigh. "We won't let you, Erza."

She tried to pry her wrist out of my hand, but my grip didn't let up.

"Alright…how about this? Just trust us and we'll get us all out of here." I didn't even wait for an answer before sending a shadow through her head, knocking her unconscious. "Good? Great. Alright boys, any ideas?"

Simon sweatdropped as he caught the falling Erza and laid her on the ground. Meanwhile, Natsu looked over to the edge of the tower.

"How about we jump off?"

"Any non-idiotic ideas?" I rephrased as I put my hand back on the pillar.

"Hey! I bet we could make it if we jumped into the water!" Natsu suggested.

"Natsu…I kinda don't wanna die today, if you didn't know that already…" I sarcastically said.

"Actually, he may be right," I heard Simon say as he looked over the edge.

"Seriously?" I asked incredulously.

Simon nodded as Natsu picked Erza up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Alright! Let's go!" he shouted excitedly.

I groaned as I shakily got up while using the pillar as support. I tried to take a step forward but stumbled. Simon caught me before I fell and he had a concerned look on his face.

He already knew the answer, but he asked anyway. "Can you walk?"

I shook my head. He picked me up bridal style and turned to Natsu.

"Ready?" he asked.

Natsu smirked. "You bet! We're getting the hell outta this place!"

They both started sprinting towards the edge.

"You guys think we can still escape the explosion?"

"Possibly," Simon answered.

I had an idea.

We reached the edge and they both leaped as far forward as they could. I felt the rush of wind blowing my hair all over the place as we fell towards the water.

I over Simon's shoulder to look at the tower. It was almost blinding at this point.

I clasped both my hands together and furrowed my eyebrows in concentration.

" **Tower of Shades!** "

A large, black magic circle formed above the tower and, appearing out of the circle, the largest, shadowy pillar that I had ever formed in my life. It, however, barely engulfed half of the tower.

I hoped that it was enough.

I could feel my magic being drained as I concentrated harder on the shades that were sucking the energy out of the tower.

"Hey!" Simon yelled. "Don't push yourself too hard!"

I ignored him as I pushed more of my power into the spell and the edges of my vision began to darken.

I was struggling to stay awake now, much less concentrated. I saw my spell dissipating and decided to close my eyes for a bit.

I could hear the tower's explosion just as I blacked out.

* * *

 **A/N:** **This was gonna be one big chapter, but I felt that it was better to cut it off here. The next chapter will be the aftermath and stuff. Hopefully it won't take a month and a bit for that one.**

 **See ya next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 - A Time I Once Wanted and A Time I Once Knew**

 _It was a sunny afternoon in Magnolia. People greeted each other while going about their daily lives._

 _Erza stood on the cobblestone path. Before her, were the doors to the Fairy Tail guildhall._

 _She looked down at herself. She was still wearing her armor._

 _Something was off, though, but she couldn't tell what._

 _The doors creaked loudly as she opened them and when she stepped inside, she couldn't help but smile at the sight before her. Tables overturned, chairs being thrown, and mugs flying around along with people. They were as rambunctious as always._

 _Erza decided to let it go…just this once._

 _She walked through the guild, avoiding all sorts of projectiles that might've hit her. She saw Natsu walking in her direction and decided to greet him._

" _Good afternoon, Nat-" He walked past, not paying any mind to her. "-su."_

 _She was a bit confused and decided to go to the bar and ask Mira about it. The white-haired girl was standing behind the bar, smiling as the guild quieted down to a more tolerable level._

 _Erza leaned on the bar and stared at Natsu as he talked to Lucy. He started laughing_

" _Hey, Mira. Is there something wrong with Natsu?" she asked the barmaid._

 _When Mira didn't respond, Erza turned around and gave her a hard stare._

 _She tried again."Mira, I'm talking to you, you know."_

 _She waved her hand in front of Mira's face and the barmaid didn't even react. Erza leaned over the counter and tried to put her hand on Mira's shoulder._

" _Hey, what's wrong with y-" Her arm went right through her._

 _Erza's eyes widened in realization for a brief moment before they softened._

" _Oh…I see."_

 _She lowered her arm as she turned around and stared at the rest of her friends who were enjoying a regular afternoon at the guild._

 _When she saw them smile, she gave one of her own, albeit a little sad._

 _She slowly walked back out of the guildhall and turned to look at the building._

' _I knew something was off.' This building was the old guildhall which Gajeel destroyed._

" _I'm dead, aren't I…" she said to no one in particular._

 _She didn't remember much about her last moments. The only thing that came to mind was that she was planning on sacrificing herself to save her friends from the tower's destruction._

 _The bell at the top of Kardia Cathedral sounded twice._

" _As long as everyone else is alive and well…"_

 _Twice again._

"… _as long as everyone else is happy…"_

 _Twice once more._

"… _then that's all that matters to me."_

 _Suddenly, the bell rang again, clearly louder than the other times. It startled Erza as she flinched from the sound. She turned to face the cathedral._

 _The bell was still, but then, it moved and rang again. Erza wasn't sure if it was her ears playing tricks on her, but she could have sworn that it was slightly louder than the last. There was a slight pause before it sounded again, and Erza couldn't shake the feeling of unease building up inside of her._

 _The bell kept ringing with slight pauses between each one. They were getting progressively louder and Erza could feel a massive headache coming. She put her hands over her ears, but it did nothing to stop the sounds from resonating within her head. She kept count, wondering how many it would take for this to end._

 _After many torturous minutes, it finally quieted down._

 _Erza slowly removed her hands from her ears. She was feeling a bit dizzy but tried to ignore it._

" _Eighteen," she murmured to herself. "Eighteen times."_

 _It turned out that it wasn't over, as the bell rang once more, several times louder than any of the others. Erza gritted her teeth as she fell to her knees. The sound was so painful to her that she quickly put her hands back over her ears and shut her eyes. This one seemed to resonate the longest and Erza wondered partway through if it was ever going to end._

 _After agonizing for what seemed like eternity, Erza was relieved that the bell finally stopped. She opened her eyes and looked around._

 _She was no longer in front of the guild. She stood, in a white dress, behind a crowd in black. Ot was still sunny out, so she wondered why they were dressed in such clothes._

 _They were all facing forward and Erza, out of curiosity, weaved her way through the crowd, her white dress contrasting against the black clothes surrounding her. She got a few good looks at some of the somber faces and knew right away that these were her guildmates. When she reached the front, she found Master Makarov facing the same direction as the rest of the guild._

 _In front of him…was a grave._

 _On a stone pedestal sat a large cross with a looped top section. In front of the cross, was a winged knight on a horse in the middle of rearing. The knight was in full armor and held a long spear._

 _The gravestone read:_

ERZA SCARLET

X765 - X784

 _Master started speaking. "Erza Scarlet was like a daughter to me. She was strong, caring, and a beautiful and graceful person." He sniffled and paused, trying and failing to recompose himself._

" _Most importantly…" He was sobbing now. "…she was family. And to pass at such a young age…_

 _The cruelty and unfairness that this world had brought upon her will not be forgotten. Today is a sorrowful day…as our grief-stricken family will never be the same from now on."_

" _What are you guys all talking about…?"_

 _Erza turned around, as did a lot of other people, and saw Natsu standing behind the crowd._

 _He slowly walked forward, eyes covered by his bangs and spoke in a low tone. "Erza's not dead… you all should know this. We should believe in her…" He raised his head. "'cause she'll just come back and scold us like usual for looking so pathetic."_

 _His facial expression spelled out furious, but tears were streaming down his face just like everyone else._

 _Lucy walked up to him and, to everyone's shock, slapped him. "Stop being in denial, Natsu. Can't you see? She's gone…"_

" _Lucy, she's…"_

" _Just open your eyes, Natsu…ERZA'S GONE AND YOU KNOW IT!"_

 _At that, Natsu fell to his knees and started sobbing uncontrollably. Lucy was kneeling in front of him, trying and failing to comfort him as she was in the same state._

" _She's gone…forever…"_

 _Erza looked around at her guildmates, in their heartbroken and depressed states, and turned around, the sight being too much to bear as she started to cry out of her one good eye._

 _Mother Nature offered no tears, just the clouds blocking the sunlight from ever reaching her._

' _You really think everyone will continue smiling after you sacrifice yourself?' Lok's words echoed in her mind. She finally understood what they meant._

 _It was then that Erza realized that Lok wasn't among the crowd._

' _Where is she?'_

 _Her curiosity got the better of her as she started running. She didn't know why, but she needed to find out where she was._

 _She was an important team member and a part of her family, after all._

 _After running for a while, Erza finally found her. At the train station, Lok was sitting on a bench with her luggage right beside her._

 _Erza didn't move, and neither did Lok, not until the train came._

 _The train that came was heading west of Magnolia. After it came to a stop, the doors opened. Lok got up and walked into one of the train cars near the back. When Erza tried to follow her, the doors abruptly closed and she couldn't get in. She saw Lok through the window and her eyes widened with shock._

 _With a disappointed look in her eyes, Lok lifted up her shirt, and erased her own guild mark._

 _That was the last Erza saw of her as a whistle sounded, the train blew steam, and it started to roll forward._

 _Erza walked a few steps forward and subconsciously reached out towards the departing train._

 _Erza had died, her guildmates were heartbroken, and Lok had left the guild._

" _How did it come to this…?"_

* * *

 _Training had finally begun._

 _We were gathered in the main hall, the same room we were in when we were first introduced to the facility. Five masked figures stood in front of us. The one wearing a black masked stepped forward._

" _This will be the hardest week for most of you, as you are just settling in," he stated. "Those who are not prepared to work hard as if their lives are at risk should leave now."_

 _No one moved._

" _Good. Let us now begin." He motioned to the four people beside him who wore white masks, and they began to split the children into groups._

 _A couple of boys snickered beside me. One of them whispered, "He's probably just trying to scare us."_

 _How foolish._

 _Well, at least I was prepared. Master Yurick trained me for some time before I was sent here._

 _He also told me about the 'tests' that they held. He wasn't supposed to, but he did anyway. To be fair, he didn't say anything about this 'organization', only that I would learn everything sooner or later. He also didn't mention anything explicit about the tests except one thing._

 _I remembered him giving me a stern look before he said, "The first one'll weed out most of the weak, that's for sure."_

 _Our lives really did depend on how hard we worked._

 _We started with hand-to-hand combat training and the regimen was very fast-paced. A lot of the kids were struggling to keep up, and if I wasn't trained beforehand, I might've been in the same boat as them. In the middle of training, I spotted the two girls that came up to me yesterday._

 _If I recalled correctly, Hara and Runi were their names._

 _For their bubbly attitudes, they were surprisingly adept when it came to combat. They both had great form and were easily keeping up with our instructors._

 _Well, Hara was at least. Runi was a bit behind but she seemed to be more experienced than a lot of the other kids._

 _Right jab. Left hook. Left kick. Turn while striking backwards with the elbow. We were repeating the same drill at high speed, and every so often, one of the instructors would walk by, and do a jab straight at our faces. Most were able to parry and continue with the drill. Those who didn't, fell over in pain as the jab connected with their jaw._

 _Long, arduous drills passed as we started to feel the exhaustion creeping up on us. Sweat rolled down my face and to my chin before dripping onto the marble floor. An instructor walked by. They looked like they were about to pass me, then suddenly twisted their body and threw a jab at my face._

 _I parried it, albeit slower than the times before. I was panting as I tiredly continued the current drill. The masked instructor stared at me, hummed in approval, and walked away._

 _The man with the black mask yelled for us to take a break, just as another kid met the floor with a loud thud._

" _You have ten minutes," the man stated._

 _I turned around and started towards the one end of the room where water bottles were being handed out. I stopped when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I already had an inkling of who it was._

" _Good work out there," Hara said as I turned to face them._

" _You have really good form!" Runi said excitedly. "Did you train before coming here?"_

 _I raised an eyebrow._

" _Hey, it's rude to ask about people's lives before they came here," Hara scolded her._

 _Runi's eyes widened a bit before she covered her mouth and murmured, "Oops…sorry."_

 _Her blue-haired companion sighed. "You really have no manners, Runi."_

" _I don't really mind," I finally piped up._

 _They stared at me in what seemed like slight surprise._

" _By the way, you never told us your name," Runi said._

' _Guess I didn't. I just brushed them off last night and went to eat in my room.'_

 _I looked them over_

' _It might be good to gather a few allies…'_

" _My name is Lok."_

 _They hummed in response._

" _Let's get some water then, Lok," Hara suggested._

" _Sure."_

 _We made our way to the area where most of the other kids were hanging around. We got our bottles and sat down against the wall._

 _Breaking the silence, I told them, "You two are pretty good by the way. I saw you."_

 _They looked at me._

" _Although Runi looked like she was slacking a bit," I added._

 _Hara snickered and I could tell Runi was pouting beneath her mask. "Lok, you meanie!"_

 _I couldn't stop myself from giggling a bit before clearing my throat and standing up._

" _Come on, our break's almost over."_

 _For the next few weeks, we trained side by side, and I even joined them for dinner a few times. They actually didn't take off their masks to eat. Instead, they just lifted the bottom enough to fit their utensils. I learned that Hara was nine years old like me and that Runi was a year older. One night, I found a paintbrush and different colors of pain on my desk. There was a note next to the objects saying how we were allowed to paint our masks if we wanted to. I found out the next day that Hara painted sharp, red teeth along the outline of the mouth on her mask and Runi simply had a green line running straight down the middle of hers. I opted to keep my mask blank. We also learned about the organization of assassins we were going to be a part of. We learned of its ranks, some basic rules, and how missions usually worked._

 _Along the way, I took notice of the slackers, the ones who didn't put all of their effort into training and only put in the bare minimum. At the end of the third week, we gathered in the training room again, but this time, the Doc was there instead of the instructors._

" _Now that you're all here," his voice boomed as we lined ourselves up in rows. "Let us begin…your first test."_

 _I stiffened._

' _Here we go.'_

" _Each of you, move so that you're standing on a tile," he ordered._

 _I looked down at the white tiles that made up the boring design of the floor and stood on one of them._

" _Once you get yourself situated, don't move."_

 _We did as he ordered, and a few moments later, the tiles that the children were standing on started lowering into the floor._

 _A few gasped in surprise and others were slightly panicking until the black-masked instructor reassuringly said from beside Doc, "Do not worry, it is all part of the test."_

 _Most seemed to calm down but all I could wonder was, 'When did he get there?'_

 _I had no time to dwell on it as my tile lowered into the ground and I steeled myself. I was feeling a bit anxious since Master Yurick said that the tests were random._

 _When my tile stopped moving, all I could see was darkness which didn't quell my nervousness._

' _Calm down…' I told myself. I took deep breaths and waited for instructions._

 _Torches lit up around me and I could now see that I was in an underground corridor. The Doc's voice boomed around me. "When your tile stops moving, please step off of it."_

 _I did as I was told. The dirt beneath my feet sunk a little as I stepped off. The tile moved back upwards and covered the hole I presumably came from._

" _Welcome to the First Test: Labyrinth!" the Doc announced. "Your goal is simple…escape."_

" _Where's the catch…?" I muttered to myself._

" _However, we've prepared some…special obstacles for you."_

" _There it is…"_

" _These obstacles will test your instincts. We like to call them 'Mimics', as they can use the same techniques that you have been taught but can also copy other fighting styles. They will be the ones hunting you down as you find your way out. Also…" I could picture him smirking. "…some of them might even be armed. Good luck to you all!"_

 _I started walking. I eyed every crack in the floor, ceiling, and walls, and peeked around each corner before passing it. I needed to be wary since I had no idea what these mimics looked like._

' _It would suck if I go through this entire test without even meeting one…'_

 _I paused at a four-way intersection. There was a sound. I strained my ears and I heard it. It echoed in the corridors to my left._

 _Thinking that this was my chance to gain some experience, I started running. I turned one corner, then I made a left, a right, then another right, and came upon a flight of stairs. The sound was louder, more warped than before, and it sounded more like a constant, distorted scream. I tried not to lose my nerves as I walked up the stairs._

 _As I peeked above the top steps, I saw it. A grey being stood more than seven feet tall, easily reaching the labyrinth ceiling. Its arms reached down to what I assumed was its knees and its fingers were at least twice as long as any normal human's. Its shoulders were broad but, for some reason, its body narrowed significantly at its waist. My eyes trailed down its long, skinny, somewhat crooked legs and I could just barely make out the outline of its large feet and long toes. It looked like it was in the middle of walking away from me so I couldn't tell what its face looked like. Black lines flickered all over its body and it looked like some badly sketched humanoid._

 _My eyes widened in realization._

" _Pict Magic?" I accidentally questioned aloud._

 _I covered my mouth in horror as I backed up and lay down flat on the stairs, hoping that the_ thing _didn't spot me._

 _When I thought it was safe, I took another peek, and sure enough, the creature was still facing away._

 _Suddenly, it went silent._

 _Almost as abrupt as the noise stopping, it swivelled its head in my direction. Its face was featureless besides three dark, round holes. Its mouth looked hauntingly empty and its eyes looked like endless voids that tried to suck out your soul._

 _I stared at its empty gaze and, as terror filled my heart to the brim, I realized that its gaze was directed at me._

 _It let out a distorted screech and lunged towards me with one of its arms outstretched. Snapping out of it for a brief moment, I let my survival instincts take over and quickly ducked under it. I grabbed its arm and, using its momentum, flipped it over my shoulder. The thing tumbled down the stairs and landed with a loud 'thump'._

 _The screeching stopped._

 _I turned in the direction it was originally facing when I first found it and tried to gain some distance. But then, something on the ground caught my eye._

 _A mask. With red teeth painted along the outline of the mouth._

 _It was only then that I noticed a child slumped against the dirt wall under one of the torches._

" _Lok…is that you?"_

 _I hurried over to one of the only friends I had and kneeled down next to her form._

" _Hara…?"_

" _Heh, it hit me pretty hard…" Hara tried to smile but it didn't cover up the fact that she was pretty shaken up. Tears pooled in her eyes and escaped down her cheeks. Her smile finally faded as she choked back a sob. I did what I remembered my mom doing when I was younger and got upset. I wrapped my arms around her and ran my fingers through her hair. It seemed to do the trick, as she calmed down rather quickly. When her tears subsided, she talked again. "It has claws."_

 _When I looked at her in confusion, she clarified, "Fingers and toes aren't that sharp."_

" _How can you tell?"_

 _She then showed me her left leg and I lightly gasped. The grey, skintight suits the girls were required to wear offered little protection. Simple built-in shoulder, elbow, and knee pads seemed to satisfy whoever designed them. Any other part of the body was protected only by the thin, flexible fabric of the suit. Hara had four, long gashes across her left thigh that oozed crimson down her leg._

" _We need to get you out of here," I said as if it wasn't obvious._

" _Well it hurts too much to walk, so…"_

 _I went to pick up Hara's mask and handed it back to her. I didn't comment as she placed it back onto her face, then I knelt down in front of her and told her to climb on._

" _Huh?"_

" _You heard me…climb on."_

" _But…I…you…" she started to protest but gave in when I turned my head and glared at her. "Fine."_

 _She climbed onto my back and adjusted herself to be more comfortable. When she was ready, I started to lightly jog down the corridor, away from the thing that attacked Hara. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if the thing was following but it never was._

" _It probably won't follow us if we've gotten this far," Hara reassured me._

 _She then filled me in on what she had learned already. Apparently, the Mimics didn't have ears and only made that horrible screeching noise when they spotted prey._

" _Not only that," Hara continued. "The noise stops when they lose sight of their target." She paused. "Either that, or the prey's dead, and then they start wandering around again. So that means…"_

" _That we should take advantage of the stairs?" I finished for her._

" _Exactly. Lose them at the staircases." She paused for bit before saying, "Also, I don't think that we actually have to fight these things. The Doc might be testing our fight or flight instincts. I feel like he wants to see if we can judge an enemy's skill level and act accordingly, even if that means running. After all, the goal isn't to defeat a Mimic…it's to escape, right?"_

" _We've been here for less than an hour and you figured all of this out?" I asked, impressed by her analysis._

" _Yep! When I was younger, people always told me how smart I was for my age!" she proudly said._

 _I hummed in response. "So how did you get caught?" I asked._

 _She sighed. "I was running away from a Mimic and spotted a staircase, but when I ran up the stairs, I met another one…"_

" _Wow…guess you traded luck for intelligence, huh."_

 _She lightly chuckled. "Tell me about it."_

 _We walked in silence for a bit until her arms tightened around my neck and I could feel her trembling a bit._

" _Hara?"_

" _I was seriously going to die back there…"_

 _I hummed in response._

" _Thank you…for saving me…"_

"… _that's what friends are for, right?"_

* * *

 _I carried Hara for what seemed like hours. During that time, we avoided any Mimics we came across and simply talked while trying to find an exit._

 _Hara told me about how she ended up at the facility. Her story wasn't anything special, really. She lived at an orphanage, and for reasons she couldn't understand, no one wanted to adopt her. However, on her ninth birthday, a woman came in, signed the adoption papers, and brought her to the facility._

 _Since she told me her story, it was only fair that I told her mine. I told her that when I was seven, my house burned down with my parents still inside._

" _Oh…I'm sorry."_

" _It's fine. Afterwards, Master Yurick found me and gave me a place to stay," I continued._

" _Who?"_

" _He's a Master Assassin."_

 _She got pretty excited at this. "You got taken in by a Master Assassin?!"_

" _Yeah."_

" _Lucky…is that why you're so good?"_

" _Maybe." I paused until a thought occurred to me. "Wait…how are you so good?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Well, no offense, but I don't think anyone could keep up with the training without being trained before coming here, and you were brought here immediately after you were adopted."_

 _She seemed to think about it for a second before answering, "Hmm…I don't know. Maybe it's natural talent."_

 _I smirked. "Better start working your ass off then, Hara. I don't think talent will get you that far here."_

 _I could tell by her tone that she was smirking too. "Don't worry. I won't fall behind…not behind you, at least."_

 _We both chuckled before falling into a comfortable silence. Until she decided to break it, that is._

" _By the way, you can call me Juno."_

* * *

 _We didn't know what we were expecting when we heard a screech and a scream in front of us and around the corner. But when the screeching stopped, and a monstrous being didn't show itself to us after long minutes of waiting, curiosity worked its magic and I stepped forward to peek around the corner._

 _I turned pale as I took in the scene before me. My eyes wandered, from the blood splattered on the dirt wall, to the Mimic that just turned the corner at the other end of the dimly lit hallway, and to the bodies strewn on the floor. I noticed three black training suits and one grey._

' _Three boys and a girl, huh?'_

 _I examined the scene in detail and fought the urge to throw up when I saw that not all of the bodies had their limbs still attached. One of the boys was facing our direction and I instantly turned away when I saw his face._

' _They say that eyes are windows to the soul…so that means that a person's soul is forever trapped in darkness once their eyes have been gouged out…'_

 _I shuddered at the thought._

 _I could feel Har-Juno pressing up against my back, trying to peek around the corner as well._

" _What happened? What do you see?" she asked as my head blocked her view. When I simply stared into space, she asked, "How many died?"_

" _How did y-" I thought back to her analysis on the Mimics. "Nevermind."_

" _Well, it's either one or the other, right?" she casually said._

" _Four of them, by the way."_

" _They might've been the slackers…" Juno mused. "Guess this will give kids an incentive to try harder."_

" _What do you think we should do?" I asked her._

" _We should probably turn around and find a different route. Less chance to run into that Mimic if it were to turn around."_

 _I started walking in the direction she suggested but asked anyway, "But what if we take a route that intersects with the path that Mimic is taking?"_

"… _How good is your luck?" she asked me._

" _Why?"_

" _Since we already know that mine is downright shit, we need to know yours to see if it evens out," she said._

"…"

" _So how many Mimics have you run into so far?"_

" _If we're not counting the one that just walked away, only one…and it was the one that was attacking you earlier."_

" _So that means that you have great luck!" she said enthusiastically. She then patted my head in a sort-of-condescending way. "I'll trust in your instincts this time."_

" _Hey, Juno?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _I might drop you since you're so heavy," I deadpanned._

* * *

 _Luck decided to favor us, as we didn't run into another Mimic for the rest of our time in the maze._

 _There was a staircase at the end of the hallway we were walking through, and as we neared it, we saw light from the top of the stairs._

 _An exit._

 _We walked under a rickety sign that hung from the dirt ceiling which had the word 'CONGRATULATIONS' carved into it. Soon enough, we reached the exit and we were back in the facility. A white-masked person walked over, congratulated the both of us for passing the test, and told me to take Juno to the infirmary. They pointed me in the direction, and we were on our way._

 _There was someone waiting for us, though._

" _Runi! You finished already?" Juno asked the girl who stood in front of us._

" _I finished right before you," she answered. "How was the test for you two?"_

 _Juno sounded slightly embarrassed. "Well, I got injured by a Mimic. But it's fine since Lok was here to save me!"_

 _I let out a tired sigh. "I basically did nothing but carry her around for the rest of the test…we ran into no one…it was super uneventful for me," I told Runi._

 _Runi giggled at that then said with a smile, "You got lucky then, I guess."_

 _But Runi's smile didn't exactly reach her eyes, and at that moment, I realized that Runi didn't even have her mask._

" _Hey, wh-" I started to ask a question, but Juno interrupted me._

" _Well, we should probably get going…my leg still hurts. Right, Lok?"_

" _Uh, sure." I started walking in the direction of the infirmary._

" _I'll walk with you," Runi said as she matched my pace._

 _Maybe it was because I was too tired, or maybe it was because the signs were all there, but I decided not to question the blood on Runi's hands._

* * *

 _The next morning, we were all lined up in the training room. Apparently, the Doc had an announcement._

" _Hopefully, most of you learned some valuable lessons during the test yesterday. The ones who are more experienced, you should have learned that fighting your opponent head on is not always a good approach. It's alright to be underhanded or sneaky. The ones who slacked during training and got lucky during yesterday's test, I hope you now know what happens to slackers like you. Although, the test wasn't only supposed to weed out the slackers, but also the weak."_

 _He held out his hand and the black-masked instructor - who I now knew was a Master Assassin - hand him a piece of paper._

" _There were seven Mimics that were hunting you yesterday, just so you know" the Doc stated._

 _Damn. That meant that Juno's luck was seriously rock bottom._

 _He continued talking. "Larken, Rorika, Retu, Mora, Ferkus, Drayakar, …"_

' _Names of people?' I guessed. The doc continued until he reached thirty something names._

"… _Orehano, Tifa, and Quence." He handed the list back to the Master Assassin standing next to him. "We predicted that about thirty of you would be killed during the test. It seems that we were right."_

 _Some kids gasped in shock while others started murmuring about how they knew it as well._

 _Over the increasing noise coming from the children, the Doc let out one loud and final statement. "The total number of deaths during the First Test: Labyrinth, was thirty-four. Work hard to lower that number for the second one."_

 _The black-masked man stepped up and announced, "There will be no training tomorrow. You may take that time to recuperate. Training will recommence the following day. You are dismissed."_

 _Later that evening, I met up with Juno and Runi for dinner. Juno's leg was bandaged, but she was allowed to leave the infirmary. Though she was limping a bit._

" _So," Juno started. "Are you going to get another mask, Runi?"_

" _Hmm…probably not," she answered as she played with her food._

" _I see."_

 _My mind kept drifting back to those who were announced dead, and I wondered if there was going to be a future test that we couldn't handle._

" _Hey, Juno." She perked up when I called her name. "Do you think that some of the ones the Doc named were just as skilled or even better than us?"_

 _What she did next surprised me. As well as Runi, judging by her reaction. She took off her mask and gave me a sincere look._

" _There might've been, there might not have been. I know where you're going with this, and I truly believe that all three of us will graduate. It's your turn to trust in my instincts, right?"_

 _Even though they couldn't see it, I smiled. I must've been really lucky to find friends like these. It definitely beat being alone._

" _Hey!" Runi's outburst startled us. "What happened during the test? Since when did you two get so close? Can I call you Juno, too?"_

 _Juno answered each of her questions throughout the rest of our dinner._

" _Well then," Runi began. "Please call me Ella."_

 _Juno nodded, and they both looked at me expectantly._

 _I sighed. "You can call me Aster, if you want…"_

" _Yay!" Ru-Ella exclaimed. She then hugged me from across the table and I struggled to release myself from her grip._

 _Juno lightly laughed, then, garnering our attention, she turned serious and said, "Let's make sure that none of us end up on that list, alright?"_

 _Ella leaned back into her own seat with a look of determination settled on her face. She nodded, and I nodded as well._

 _We weren't about to let each other down._

* * *

When I woke, I was still in Simon's arms and we were at the beach. Our comrades were gathered around us, all looking relieved that we made it out alive. I could hear their worried remarks as they fretted over our injuries. I could hear Simon explaining to Erza how we escaped, followed by Natsu scolding Erza for trying to sacrifice herself, and her promising that she would never do it again.

I was too tired to process anything they were saying, though. Since it wasn't treated properly, my stub was bleeding again.

'The resort should have an infirmary…'

I asked Simon to let me down. He told me to take it easy but he complied anyway. I sort of stumbled when I took my first step but steadied myself after a little bit. I started towards the resort when Erza called my name.

I turned to look at Erza who's face practically spelled one thing.

Guilt.

"You haven't been a member for long, but I dragged you into my past and you helped save me and you even got severely injured because of my incompetence, so this whole mess was my fault, an-"

I was exhausted so I decided to cut her off since most of what she was saying was going in one ear and straight out the other. I walked up to her, wrapped my one arm around her and pulled her close. I ran my fingers through her hair, and whispered, "You're fine, and we all came out alive. That's what matters, right?"

I released Erza from my impromptu hug and saw a bit of crimson dusting her cheeks. Too tired to contemplate it, I turned to head back to the resort. Lucy ran up to me as I stumbled and supported me all the way back.

"Thanks."

"No problem," she said with a bright smile.

I could hear Natsu and Gray bickering as they followed us. They seemed quite unaffected by the injuries they got. Gray, I sort of understood since his injuries were less serious, but Natsu…

'Must be a Dragon Slayer quality,' I thought. 'Stubborn as a mule.'

* * *

After rebandaging my injuries and taking a nice nap in the infirmary bed, everyone gathered around and started discussing what to do next.

Milliana, Shô, Wally, and Simon were all invited to join Fairy Tail. Simon firmly agreed to the idea, but I could see the uncertainty with the other three. After being set free from the Tower of Heaven, I guess they felt like venturing out into the world without being tied down to one place.

Natsu and the rest of the Fairy Tail members were all excited about the idea and did their best to convince the former slaves to join the guild.

They didn't outright refuse, though. They said that they would think it over, but I was pretty sure some of us already knew their answers.

Natsu and Lucy were telling them about some of their adventures, Gray was coolly standing off to the side with a smile on his face, Erza was catching up with Simon, and Milliana was suffocating Happy in a hug.

It must've been nice…having friends like that.

* * *

I had dozed off and woken up when someone lightly shook me. I blinked a few times before looking up at the source of my sleep's disturbance.

"Wakey wakey, Lok. Let's go to the beach!"

Lucy's brown eyes stared at my own. I turned my head to look out the window and saw that it was nighttime.

I turned back to Lucy and stated the obvious, "It's nighttime."

She giggled and said, "I know, silly. Come on! You'll miss out if you don't come."

I sighed and got out of the infirmary bed.

We joined up with Natsu, Gray, Simon, and Happy at the beach and watched as Erza, donning a grand-looking armor and a spear with a Fairy Tail flag attached to it, gave a heartfelt speech to her departing friends.

"Let the Fairy Tail send-off…begin!" Erza called out as she raised the flag and Natsu, Gray, and Lucy spread out.

"Alright!" Natsu cheered before shooting three bolts of fire out of his mouth which exploded in a flurry of magic high in the sky.

Gray did the same with his Ice-Make Magic, sending a projectile upwards before it exploded into the shape of a cross. Lucy used the magic infused in her keys to send one that exploded in the form of stars.

They continued with their display until Lucy called over to me, "Lok, you do something, too!"

I rolled my eyes as I walked over to her and said, "I don't think that _black_ is a nice farewell color, Lucy."

She looked a bit sheepish as she said, "Oh…right…sorry."

"I don't really mind watching, though."

Everyone grouped up again for one last, final goodbye. Milliana, Wally, and Shô slowly rowed off in their little wooden boat as they waved goodbye with tears streaming down their faces. Erza and Simon were crying, too, but had more control over it. Natsu yelled at them to stop by the guild sometime with a huge grin on his face.

I clasped the amethyst and jade stone that hung from my neck. Perhaps it was the infectious atmosphere, or the camaraderie, but I found myself genuinely smiling as I watched the scene play out in front of me.

I saw Erza staring at me with a strange expression.

I frowned. "What?"

She smiled and responded, "Nothing."

We watched Erza's friends become a speck in the sea of blue as the sun peeked over the horizon. Rays of warmth showered us and I, for one, felt refreshed after the whole tower ordeal.

Erza summed up our collective thoughts as she announced, "It's time to go home…back to Fairy Tail."

There were a few cheers, mainly from Natsu and Happy, but I could see the relieved smiles on Lucy's and Gray's faces. Simon simply looked curious. I guess he wanted to find out about the guild that took care of his childhood friend all these years.

'Friends…' I thought. 'This should be fine…even if it is temporary.'

We turned and started our trek back to the hotel with me leading the group.

Without any warning, I turned my head, looked at everyone, and said,

"You can call me Aster, if you want…"

* * *

 **A/N:** **Ahem…so it seems as though I underestimated the amount of assignments and projects during the week before exam season. I actually finished most of this chapter before exam season, but I couldn't find the time to finish it. Oops.**

 **Regarding this chapter, I had actually planned on a fight between Aster and a Mimic…but I thought it was pretty unrealistic (even in a Fairy Tail fanfic?) for a nine year old girl to fight a monster without magic on even grounds, and (for some reason) I had no motivation to write that fight. So here we are…a redundant paragraph in the author's note.**

 **I actually thought about a random story idea earlier, so I wrote it down. Unless I'm REALLY in a slump with this current story, I won't start the other one until this one's finished, since I highly doubt that I can handle two stories at the same time.**

 **No promises for when I upload the next chapter. See ya next time.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** **Okay, I did take a few weeks off from writing to sort some stuff out (I've also been sick…again) but I wrote down whatever ideas came to my mind in a different document (which has ideas for future chapters too).**

 **This chapter might be a bit shorter…? As of right now when I'm writing this…I'm not sure heh.**

 **Anyway…The Promised Neverland is airing currently. Excited? I've heard good things about the manga.**

 **By the way, thank you all for the kind reviews!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - Rest**

We finally dragged our heavily bandaged selves back to Magnolia, only to realize…

"Was the previous guildhall just as big?" I asked as I stared at the impressive-looking building in front of us.

Gray shook his head.

"It looks like a castle!" Lucy exclaimed.

"It certainly does…" Erza said.

"There was a previous guildhall? What happened to it?" Simon asked.

I answered him. "Apparently they went to war with another guild and their guildhall was a casualty."

We walked through the gates and immediately noticed the rows of tables, benches, and umbrellas that sat outside. Many of the guild members were relaxing there.

"We have an open air cafe now?"

"I guess we do…"

"Yo! Welcome back guys!" a blond man said from behind the counter of what looked like a small store.

"Hey, Max! It's been a long time since we've seen you," Happy greeted him as he flew over.

"Yeah…I haven't been around much, but I guess I'll be running the merchandise store from now on," Max told them as they walked up to inspect the items being sold. "According to Master, that is."

"You mean Max Alors, the one in Sorcerer Weekly?!" Lucy excitedly asked as the rest of us walked up to the blond shopkeeper in question.

"That's right! I've also heard a lot of stories about you, Lucy."

She looked a bit bothered. "Ugh…the rumors…I can just hear them ruining my life…"

I patted her shoulder. "You're just being a bit paranoid."

"So, what are we selling here?" Gray asked.

He answered, "T-shirts, wristbands, mugs, and towels…but our number one seller is…"

I stared at the item Max just placed on the counter. "A Lucy figurine?" I wondered aloud as I picked it up.

"Yep! And look…you can even make the clothes come off!" he told us.

The clothes on the Lucy figurine popped off and revealed a white bikini underneath.

"Gahhh!" Lucy screamed as she reached for the figurine in my hands.

I moved away from her and looked between Lucy and the figurine. "Yep…the sizes seem to be proportionally correct," I teased. "These are really well-crafted."

"Asterrr!" Lucy wailed as her face turned red from embarrassment. I gave her a small smile as I tossed the figurine to her. She caught it, found its clothes, snapped them back on, and went to scold Max about privacy and stuff.

"I wonder how much the inside has changed…" Erza mused.

"Guess we'll find out," Gray said as he walked towards the large doors of the guildhall.

The group followed him as Happy yelled, "Come on Lucy! We're going inside!"

"Ah! Wait up!" Lucy yelled back. She left a tired-looking Max behind the counter as she ran to catch up with her team.

We stood in the middle of the guildhall, admiring how spacious it was.

"It looks so nice…" Lucy and Happy both said.

"Very impressive indeed," Erza chimed in.

"It's different…" Natsu muttered.

I was reminded of the temple back at the village as I looked around me. This place was different, though. This place lacked the tension that filled the temple. This place felt…warm.

"Lu, welcome home!" a short, blue-haired girl called over to Lucy. Her name was Levy, if I remembered correctly.

Lucy turned her head to the girl. "Levy!"

Levy looked really proud of their new guildhall. "Amazing, isn't it?"

"It sure is."

"We even have a pool behind the bar now!" Levy stated.

"We do?!"

"Yep! And we even have a rec room downstairs."

"Are they sure they're not overdoing it?" Lucy asked no one in particular.

Simon looked around in awe while murmuring, "If only Wally, Milliana, and Shô could see this…"

"The biggest difference is the second floor," Levy continued. "Everyone's allowed to go up there now, but you still need a S-class mage to accompany you on S-class missions."

"It's all different…" I heard Natsu mutter.

"Welcome back, my troublemaking children," Master Makarov greeted from behind us.

"Master!" a bunch of us called out.

Next to him was a blue-haired girl we all recognized from our trip. "This is our newest member, Juvia," Master introduced her. "Isn't she cute?"

"Nice to meet you!" Juvia enthusiastically greeted us with a big smile on her face.

Gray chuckled and said, "So you actually joined up, huh?"

"Thank you for all your help at the resort," Erza sincerely told her.

Juvia nodded her head excitedly. "Juvia will do her best to make the guild proud!"

"Someone else also joined while you lot were away," Master stated.

"Who?" mostly everyone asked.

Master pointed to someone behind us and we turned around. At one table, a black-haired man with piercings all over his body sat. He grunted and glared at us.

"Hey!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Him, of all people?!"

My teammates all chorused their complaints at once. Meanwhile, Simon and I were confused.

"Juvia is acceptable, but Gajeel? He's the one who's responsible for the destruction of our guildhall," Erza said with fury in her eyes.

"Don't forget that he was the bastard who tortured Lucy and Team Shadow Gear," Gray angrily stated.

"I don't really mind him joining…" Levy quietly said.

"I think you hiding behind the table contradicts what you're saying, Levy," I pointed out. "So who's this Gajeel guy?"

Erza sighed before explaining, "They call him Black Steel Gajeel. He was one of the strongest members in Phantom Lord. He's an Iron Dragon Slayer. He's the one who destroyed our previous guildhall, he's the one who hurt Levy, Droy, and Jet, and he's the one who captured and tortured Lucy."

"Yesterday's enemies can be today's friends," Master tried to reason with them. "And besides, he's not that bad, you know. At least, I hope so…"

"No way am I working with this bastard!" Natsu yelled out as he marched towards him.

"The feeling's mutual Salamander," Gajeel said.

"Huh?! You looking for a fight?!"

I sighed. I manipulated the shadows to grab Natsu by the ankle and dragged him back over to us.

Dangling him upside down in front of me, I told him, "Come one, Natsu. If this is the Master's decision, we should respect it."

He landed with a loud thud when I dropped him.

"Ow!" Natsu whined. "Why'd you have to drop me, Aster?"

"Just 'cause I felt like it…" I then leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I don't think you want Erza beating you up right after your recovered…so you should probably behave for a while."

He paled a bit before quickly nodding his head.

My eyes wandered over to Gajeel and I looked him over. I really didn't need another Dragon Slayer in the vicinity, but now that he was part of Fairy Tail, I couldn't exactly do anything about it.

'He does seem a bit weaker than Natsu, though…'

"Are you looking to join Fairy Tail as well?" Master asked Simon.

"Yes. My name is Simon Mikazuchi and I'm an old friend of Erza's," he introduced himself. "I use Darkness Magic and Telepathy."

"Well then. Erza, can you take Simon to Mira to get his guild mark?" Master asked.

"Of course, Master. This way, Simon."

Master then turned to me and eyed my injuries. "Why don't we take you to Porlyusica to check out your arm?" he suggested.

"Who's that?"

"I guess you could say that she's the guild's doctor."

"Alright then."

I followed Master outside of the guildhall and walked until we entered the East Forest.

"Does this Porlyusica person live here?" I questioned.

Master nodded in response.

We continued walking in silence until Master said, "Aster, huh?"

I looked at him before looking ahead again. "Aster is my given name…feel free to call me by it."

Master simply nodded.

We hiked through the forest until we reached a large tree that had oddly positioned windows on its trunk. A door to the inside of the trunk awaited at the top of a cracked, stone staircase which we climbed.

Master knocked on the door, and I could hear quiet footsteps heading towards us. When the door opened, I saw a tall, elderly woman with pink hair holding a broom.

Her eyes narrowed. "What?"

Master cleared his throat. "Aster here…lost her arm. Can you please examine the wound?"

"Tch. Come in," she responded as she retreated back into her home.

Master turned to me. "I'm going to head back to the guild. Porlyusica will take care of you now. Just…do as she says."

I nodded before following the old woman. Entering the house, I examined its simple decor. A large carpet in the center of the room, a few barrels and boxes, ad full bookshelf with a ladder next to it, a chair, a table, and a bed. I even saw a couple tree stumps rooted into her floor.

"Were you cleaning the house?" I asked, referring to her broom.

"No." she simply answered.

"Oh."

She pointed at the bed. "Sit down," she ordered.

Once I got myself situated, she pulled up the chair next to me and looked me over.

"Your clothes are torn…you have more injuries?"

I nodded my head. "I didn't get a chance to go home and change."

After examining all of my minor wounds and treating them where necessary, she unwrapped the bandages around my upper left arm and, without even flinching at the sight, examined the stub.

She then started to ramble about the procedure, though I wasn't exactly listening for the most part.

All I could think about was how this would affect the mission.

"I know someone who'll have the arm ready in about a week or so. You can keep the wound bandaged until the arm arrives." She went and got some bottles of medicine and handed them to me. "If it's ever in pain, take a spoonful of this medicine to numb it."

While she rewrapped the bandages, I asked, "Will I be able to train?"

"Not for a few days, at least."

"What if-"

"No training," she said with finality.

I nodded slowly and rose from the bed.

I slightly bowed and thanked Porlyusica before leaving her home.

While I made my way back to the guild, I put the medicine in my requip space when I was sure no one was looking.

'No training, huh?'

* * *

"Erza…shouldn't you stop them?" Lucy asked as she ducked under another flying chair.

"Hmm…I'll let them off for today," Erza stated as she caught a mug and threw it back at the unfortunate soul who threw it in the first place.

"Wow, Erza must be in a good mood," Happy said before getting knocked out of the air by a flying Elfman.

Master then walked in and transformed into a giant, scaring everyone in the guild into submission as they stopped fighting. Everyone except for Natsu and Gray, that is.

Master heavily sighed before swatting both of them against the wall, knocking them unconscious. He turned back to his regular size before going to a table and ordering a drink from Mira.

Erza, Lucy, and Simon sat down at a table. While the rest of the guild was being cleaned up, Juvia came over and sat across from them.

"Are you enjoying the guild so far, Juvia?" Erza asked her.

Juvia nodded enthusiastically. "Everyone is really nice!"

"That's good."

"But do they always fight like that?" Juvia questioned.

Erza sighed as she stared at many of her guildmats cleaning up. "Unfortunately, yes."

Everyone else at the table followed her gaze and sweatdropped.

"This seems like a rather…interesting guild," Simon noted as he stared at his right forearm, the grey guild mark making him smile a bit.

"It really is…" someone at their table said.

Everyone turned their heads to the source and found Aster sitting next to Juvia with a glass of water next to her. She propped her chin up on her one elbow as she let out a bored sigh.

"When did you get here, Aster?!" Lucy asked, shocked at how none of them noticed her entrance.

"About a minute ago," she nonchalantly said as she sipped some water.

"Ah! Juvia almost forgot. Juvia found information about the rest of the Element Four."

Lucy and Erza seemed to perk up at her statement.

"I've heard of the Element Four before. Your skill as a mage seems to match your reputation."

"Ah, thank you," Juvia responded while nodding her head.

"So? The rest of the Element Four?" Erza pressed the matter of importance.

"It seems Totomaru started teaching at a magic school! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Huh…it sounds like he's already moved on from Phantom." Lucy sounded almost impressed. "And the other two?"

"Sol and Aria…joined a dark guild. They were arrested when they were caught pillaging a village. Apparently, Sol has escaped while Aria is still in his cell. Juvia wanted to warn you just in case, though Juvia doubts that they will try to seek revenge."

"Well, thank you for letting us know, Juvia," Erza said, appreciative of Juvia's thoughtfulness. "We will make sure to take extra precaution."

"Which dark guild did they join?" Simon asked out of curiosity.

"Juvia thinks it was called…Naked Mummy?"

They heard glass shatter.

Everyone at the table looked over to the source of the noise. Aster unclenched her hand and let go of several shards of glass, the water she was drinking moments before now dripping onto the table and floor. For a brief moment, the look in her eyes was a mix of sorrow and rage, but that look disappeared as soon as she blinked.

There was a silence, until Aster said, "Sorry about that." She cleaned up the shards to the best of her ability and went to throw them away. When she came back, she told them, "I just remembered that I should probably go fix my clothes since they're all torn, so I'll be heading home now."

That seemed to break everyone else out of their stupor as Lucy asked with a slightly nervous smile, "You can sew?"

Aster nodded. "I was a maid before I came to Fairy Tail, so I learned a bunch of useful skills."

Lucy was once again the one who asked, "Are you sure you'll be okay? 'Cause of…you know…"

Her gaze, as well as everyone else's, settled on Aster's missing arm.

"Ah…" Aster sighed. "I'll be fine. It'll just take a bit longer than usual."

"Would you like our assistance?" Erza asked.

She gave them a smile. "Nah. That's not necessary. I'll see you all later." Aster quickly hurried out of the guild after her farewell, leaving her guildmates confused by her strange behavior.

"Was it something Juvia said?" Juvia nervously asked.

"Perhaps Aster has some history with dark guilds," Simon expressed his thoughts.

"Maybe we should follow her," Lucy suggested. "She probably does need our help."

"She might want to be alone though."

Their discussion continued for a bit longer until they finally decided to go to Aster's place.

"It's our job as her friends to intrude into her life as much as we can!" Lucy cheered them on.

They quickly ran into a problem.

"Aster's probably long gone, so does anyone know where she lives?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Lucy facepalmed.

"I think Master might," Erza stated as she got up and walked over to where their Master sat. "Master, do you know where Aster lives?"

He took a break from drinking his beer and looked up at Erza. "Is there a reason you want to know?"

"We want to check up on her, and also help her with her sewing since she lost an arm."

He hummed. "If you keep along the edge of the East Forest, you should find her house next to a meadow," he told her.

"Thank you, Master." Erza hurried back to her table, said a few words, and walked out of the guild with Lucy, Simon, and Juvia following her.

Master Makarov smiled a bit, then went back to his drink.

* * *

"Master said along the forest and next to a meadow…" Erza told the rest.

They were currently following the Master's directions, with Erza leading the group as they passed a few houses that weren't Aster's.

"What if her hou-" Lucy was interrupted by what sounded like a tree snapping in half.

They turned towards the forest and saw a tall tree wobble a bit before falling over on its side. Exiting the forest, was Aster. They watched as she calmly walked over to one of the houses that seemed farther away from the others, opened the door, and disappeared inside as the door slowly closed.

"Well then…let's go," Lucy said, albeit with less confidence than before.

They found themselves knocking on her door, and when she answered, they could almost see the surprise on her face before it was replaced by an expressionless look.

"So…uh…what brings you all here?" she asked.

"We came to help," Erza simply stated.

Aster opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out and she closed it.

"Hope you don't mind us being here," Simon said.

She looked like she was deciding whether or not to let them in, then looked over their shoulders and asked, "Natsu and Gray aren't with you?"

"Juvia wishes that her darling Gray were here~!"

Aster blankly stared at Juvia after her outburst and simply said, "Well I don't. Who knows what they could break in here."

Lucy lit up. "Does that mean you'll let us in?"

She sighed. "Yeah, sure."

She motioned them to come in and they were able to take a look at the inside of her house for the first time.

"Really nice place you have," Simon complimented.

"Thanks. It wasn't cheap though."

"How much was it?" Lucy asked as she examined the kitchen.

"Enough to make a big dent in my savings."

Erza looked at a room that had its door closed.

"I'll go get my kit. In the meantime, you can relax in dining and living room." She then wandered off further into her home to do exactly as she said.

Simon and Juvia sat at the kitchen table while Lucy sat on the couch.

"This place must've costed a lot…" Lucy murmured to herself, looking aroundat the modern furniture as she sunk into the cushions.

"I'm curious about that room," Erza told the others as she headed towards the room she was eyeing earlier.

The door was padlocked which seemed suspicious, but Erza simply thought that Aster had some personal belongings she didn't want others touching. Settling on that thought, Erza's curiosity peaked and was about to try the door anyway when a voice sounded to her right.

"That door's locked for a reason, Erza."

Erza, startled, spun around and took a step backwards. Aster was wearing a different shirt, her tattered one and her vest tucked under her armpit, and was carrying her sewing kit. She smirked at Erza's reaction, then walked past her, presumably to the living room.

She looked over her shoulder and said, "I don't want people touching some of my personal stuff."

* * *

"So, did the rest of you just come on a whim since you don't know how to sew?" I eyed Simon, Juvia, and Erza as they simply sat around doing nothing.

Lucy and I were currently fixing my vest and shirt while the others just stared.

"What about your skirt?"

"The skirt's beyond repair, but I have another, so it's fine."

"Ah."

Erza and Juvia looked a bit dejected, probably from not being useful. Simon just shifted uncomfortably since he probably wasn't used to this sort of atmosphere.

"Well," I started. "The company's nice. Right, Lucy?"

She beamed at me. "Right!"

Her cheerfulness was infectious as everyone else smiled.

Hours passed, as well as conversations about the most mundane of things. We were already finished with the sewing and were just sitting around.

"I see you stopped wearing your armor. What's up with that?" I asked Erza. She was currently wearing a white blouse and a blue skirt, with many of her bandages showed around her chest area and her forearms.

She let out a content sigh. "I feel as though I no longer have a reason to hide behind my armor since my past is finally behind me," was her response.

She had a good reason to be relieved. The burden was lifted off of her shoulders and she was finally able to move on after so many years.

Her friends smiled, happy that she was finally able to be free.

I smirked inwardly. 'I almost feel bad since I here to ruin that.'

"So Aster. You were a maid before joining the guild?" Lucy asked curiously.

I nodded. "I walked around aimlessly after my village was attacked. I did odd jobs here and there, but I never stayed in one place for that long. This went on for several years."

I was sure that I nailed the 'somber tone'.

"But then, this really nice couple offered me a job as a maid at their mansion. They took me in, taught me a lot of things…they even taught me how to fight.

"Really?"

"Yeah. They were keen on teaching all of their servants how to defend themselves just in case something happened. They treated us well."

"That sounds nice," Erza commented with a smile.

"It was. They even paid me a nice amount. They were so nice that I continued working there even after I earned enough money to live comfortably on my own." I paused. "Seven years, I worked for them."

"Wow…that's a long time for a teenager," Lucy quietly said.

"If you were so happy, why did you leave?" Juvia innocently asked.

I frowned. "One day, the couple and some of the servants were killed. The mansion was torn down, and the rest of the servants, including me, had to leave and find new jobs."

My guildmates let out a collective gasp.

Juvia looked a bit downtrodden as she fidgeted with the hem of her blue sundress. "Sorry…Juvia did not mean to pry."

I smiled reassuringly at her. "It's fine. You didn't know. Besides…"

I looked around at all of them.

"I'm glad that I found Fairy Tail."

* * *

"Sorry you guys can't stay for dinner. I only have enough food for one person," I sheepishly said as they exited my house one by one.

"Don't worry about it," Simon assured me. "We were the ones who barged in, after all."

I chuckled. "Right, well, I'll see you all tomorrow."

They said their goodbyes and left for their own homes.

'Now that I think about it…where is Simon staying?' I wondered as I shut the door.

Finding an affordable house or apartment in Magnolia must've been hard considering the town's prosperity.

I shrugged. 'He probably figured something out.'

I sighed as I retreated further into my home. That was a tiring experience. I was extremely glad that Natsu and Gray weren't here…they most definitely would've broken something.

Even worse, they would've broken into the storage room.

I would've needed a really good lie as to why I had all kinds of weapons randomly stored inside my home.

Speaking of lies, the story about my life up till now seemed believable enough. Part of it was even true. After all, I did work as a maid during my last mission.

I plopped myself onto my couch and thought about what to do for the rest of the evening. I thought about doing some training to work up an appetite, but Porlyusica's words came back to me and I slumped in defeat.

One thing I learned was that when a doctor told you to do something, you listened.

I knew one thing for sure…attempts at killing Erza had to go on hold for the time being since I was at a huge disadvantage.

I ran through the possibilities in my mind. 'Take a walk? Perhaps. Eat dinner. Shower. Weapon maintenance? I guess I could sharpen my knives…'

I wondered what my guildmates did during the evening.

I really wasn't expecting a visit today, but during our earlier conversation, Lucy told me that her team had a tendency to waltz into her apartment like they owned the place.

I let out a tired sigh at the thought of Natsu and Gray barging into my home.

'You know what? Maybe I will take that walk.'

I got up from the couch, changed into a pair of black jeans, and put on my boots.

'Should I prepare for more impromptu visits?' I thought back to how natural it felt, having people over.

I opened the door and stepped outside.

'At least…today wasn't that bad.'

* * *

 **A/N:** **There was gonna be another scene in this chapter, but I decided to put it in the next one, since I thought it would flow better that way.**

 **Gonna start the next chapter as soon as possible.**

 **See ya in the next one.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** **I finally had time.**

 **Ahem…screw honorifics. They feel out of place.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9 – To Catch a Phantom**

A week and a half had passed since my appointment with the guild's doctor, Porlyusica. During that time, I had to get surgery in order to properly attach the prosthetic arm. Erza, of course, insisted on paying for it, telling me that it was her fault and that she had to take responsibility.

I, of course, denied her offer.

I was currently sitting in the guild's infirmary for a small appointment with Porlyusica since she needed to tell me a bit about the arm. I flexed the new, armored limb as she continued her explanation.

"There will be the slightest latency when channeling your magic through the arm," Porlyusica informed me. "Remember…treat it as if it's not a part of your body, but an extension of it."

I nodded in understanding.

"While it is made of a strong metal, you better not be randomly punching things with that arm. It can only take so much stress before it has to go in for maintenance."

I nodded again. I thanked her for everything as I stood up, straightened out my purple skirt, and bowed.

She looked me over before nodding.

When I left the infirmary, I was swarmed by the rest of Team Natsu, Simon, Juvia, and a few others who hadn't seen the arm yet.

The most curious one seemed to be Levy, who was practically hanging off of me as she tried to inspect the arm's every little detail while muttering something about it looking just like it did in the books.

"It looks good," Lucy complimented with a smile.

Much to Levy's discontent, I lifted my new limb out of her reach and eyed it. "Does it?"

Many of them nodded while giving their own compliments.

"I think it looks badass!" Natsu exclaimed. "Fight me, Aster!"

"She should still be recovering, don't you think?" Simon tried to reason.

"She looks recovered enough for a fi-" Natsu never got to finish his sentence as my armored fist sent him flying through into the guild's wall, effectively knocking him unconscious.

I stared at the new limb. "Huh…it is pretty strong." I looked at the others. "Don't tell Porlyusica I did that."

They nervously smiled and nodded.

"I still think I should have paid for it," Erza said, guilt evident in her voice.

"Hmm." I came up with an idea. "How about this. Just treat me to dinner sometime, okay?"

She gave me a bewildered look. "Huh?"

I leaned in and smirked. "Deal?"

"S-sure." I could see her flush red for a second before regaining her composure.

I nodded. "I'll be heading back to train…need to get used to this arm, after all." I walked out of the guild while waving goodbye.

I was pretty satisfied with myself since I just gave myself another chance to kill Erza in the near future.

I even guaranteed myself a free meal.

* * *

"Is it just me? Or does she seem a bit different?" Lucy asked no one in particular.

They watched as Aster walked out the open guild doors and down the cobblestone path.

"She definitely seems a lot bolder," Erza stated.

"She's a lot more approachable now," Lucy added. A few others nodded in agreement.

"Hopefully she doesn't strain herself while training," Simon said.

Gray waved off his concerns. "She knows how to take care of herself…unlike some idiot we know," he said as he snickered at Natsu's unconscious body.

Erza had a fond smile on her face as she stared at Aster's retreating form. 'I guess that trip to the resort did good for more than one of us,' she mused to herself.

Unbeknownst to the others, Simon sent Erza a questioning look, then sighed as he stared in the direction Aster headed in.

* * *

I was quickly getting used to my new arm and it seriously relieved me that I didn't have to do things one-handed now.

Plus…I agreed with Natsu. The arm looked badass.

I sat down and leaned against a tree as I checked my surroundings for observers before requipping a canteen in my hand. Gulping down some water, I let out a satisfied sigh as I took deep breaths and tried to fan myself. I had just finished some hand-to-hand combat training and was taking a well-deserved break. Natural sounds of wildlife surrounded me as a light breeze rustled the leaves above my head and brushed past my skin, bringing my body temporary relief. It was an extremely sunny day and even though the trees provided some amount of shade where I trained, the heat made me sweat enough to make the black tank top I was wearing cling to my body.

Nevertheless, I felt lucky, living near such a relaxing area.

After checking my surroundings again, I requipped the canteen away when I confirmed that I was the only one in the area. I stared down at both of my hands. I used Strength Magic on both fists, lighting them up with a soft glow, and Porlyusica's words rang true, as I noticed that my left fist lit up a fraction of a second after my right even though I channeled my magic equally. The delay was small, probably even unnoticeable to most people unless they took a closer look, but it was still there.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

'What happens if my left arm gets destroyed during a fight?'

If that were to happen, the disadvantage would be costly. Obviously, anyone would be at a disadvantage if they were missing an arm, but a lot of mages had strong range attacks, so certain mages, like me, who depended on close combat a lot of the time, would suffer more. Even though Shadow Magic was my primary magic, I didn't know many strong range attacks that didn't require some sort of setup. Fighting Jellal made me realize this. My fighting style mostly revolved around using my Shadow Magic alongside my weapons or fists. I could always set traps, but those weren't the most reliable in most cases.

I decided to deal with the lack of strong range attacks later. For now, I wanted to focus on something that would help me regain equal footing if my left arm were to be destroyed.

And so, I began trying to form an arm out of shadows.

* * *

The next day, I walked into the guild hall right after lunchtime just to have Erza march up to me with Simon tailing her. She was holding what looked like a job request in her hand.

"Aster, you're just in time. Now that most of our injuries have healed, why don't we take Simon out on his first mission?" Erza suggested.

"I don't mind, but where's the rest of the team?" I questioned as I looked around the guild, spotting none of the other members of Team Natsu. "Also, isn't the Fantasia Parade in a few days?"

"Natsu took Lucy out on a job this morning, and Gray went on a solo job," Erza clarified. "And don't worry, the job is quite short, so we can make it back in time."

"If you say so." I reached for the job request in her hand. "So, what's it about?"

She handed it over and I read its contents.

"A blacksmith from Kajiya Village is requesting the mining of rare ores in a cave near Worth Woodsea?" I looked up from the paper to see Erza nodding. "No bandits or monsters this time, huh?"

She smiled. "You don't sound disappointed."

"We could do with an easy mission every now and then." That statement worked for assassins as well. "So, when do we head out?"

"We can head out as soon as you're ready."

"You're both packed?" I asked as I looked from her to Simon. They both nodded. "Alright then. I'll meet you at the train station in…half an hour?"

They agreed, so I turned away and started heading back home. For appearances' sake, I wanted to carry a small pack with some water and extra daggers, but I needed to pick up a bag from my house since I didn't carry any in my requip space.

As I was leaving the guild hall, I felt eyes on the back of my head, and I peeked over my shoulder to see who was staring.

Mira was serving the guild members some beer near the stage. Elfman was shouting something about being a man while others were telling him to shut up, which started a fight in one corner of the hall. Cana, Macao, and Wakaba were having a drinking contest near the guild's entrance. Erza and Simon were still talking about the mission. That…strange man was still dancing in the middle of the guild, though I couldn't remember his name. Juvia was complaining about Gray not taking her on the job he went on. And Levy was reading a book while her two fanboys glared at a very unimpressed Gajeel who sat on the other side of the guild.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so I just chalked it up as me still being relatively new to the guild.

* * *

By the time the three Fairy Tail mages got to Kajiya Village, which was just North of Worth Woodsea, it was well into the evening.

Coming to an agreement to talk to the blacksmith who requested the job in the morning since it was late, the three of them walked around town while looking for an inn.

Kajiya Village turned out to be a very busy place, shown by how many people were still wandering around the streets past dinnertime. Shops were still open, street vendors were still hollering at people to come check out their goods, and the sound of hammers striking metal could be heard from several forges where blacksmiths have set up shop. They even passed a few public bathhouses.

"Hey, Erza, this seems to be your type of pl- where'd she go?" Aster cut herself off with a question as she and Simon didn't find Erza walking next to them like she had been a second ago.

They turned around in time to see the armor-clad mage in question walking into an armor shop. Aster and Simon both sighed.

After looking around some more and stopping a few times, courtesy of Erza, the trio decided to turn in for the night. While heading towards the inn, Simon noticed that Aster had been looking over her shoulder quite often since they arrived at the town and decided to ask what was wrong.

"Is something the matter, Aster?"

"No, not really," she answered absentmindedly. "Just making sure that Erza isn't walking into any more shops that we already passed."

"Hey!" the redhead protested.

"She has a point," Simon agreed. "I'm pretty sure you went into every shop we passed that sold armor, weapons, or both."

Having no comeback, Erza chose to stay silent. She knew she couldn't help herself…this village was practically a hotspot for any armor and weapon enthusiast. It was a shame that she wasn't carrying much money, or else she might've gone on a shopping spree.

She made a mental note to come back another time.

* * *

The next morning, Erza and Simon were found walking down the stairs into the basement of one of the blacksmith shops. Aster, more or less knowing what to look for, had decided to go ahead and scout out the forest and the cave in advance.

The sound of a hammer striking metal was apparent as they neared the bottom floor. When they arrived at the bottom step, it stopped as a middle-aged man wearing overalls and a pair of safety goggles stopped what he was doing to turn and look at them.

"The Fairy Tail wizards?" the man asked.

"That is correct," Erza answered him. "My name is Erza Scarlet, and this is Simon Mikazuchi. Our teammate, Aster, is scouting the forest and cave as we speak and will not be present for this meeting."

"A S-class mage? Well, that'll make things a lot easier," he said while nodding. "We're still waitin' for someone to show up."

"Like I said, our teamma-" Erza started but was cut off.

"No, not her. Your guild wasn't the only one to take this job request."

Erza was surprised, which was shown only by the slight widening of her eyes. "We weren't?"

"A guild called Cait Shelter actually accepted the job first, but when I explained the job to their mage a couple days ago, it was decided that another guild would have to help out."

"I see…"

"Should be arrivin'…any minute now. Pretty sure she stayed in town…" the blacksmith murmured as he stroked his beard.

The sound of hurrying footsteps was heard from upstairs and, soon enough, a short girl with waist-length blue hair was seen running down the steps, looking to notify the rest of her arrival.

"Sorry I'm la-" was all the girl could say as she tripped and fell down the last quarter of the stairs, letting out a high-pitched shriek in the process.

Simon and Erza stared, dumbfounded at the girl's presence while the blacksmith muttered, "Again?"

Snapping out of her stupor, Erza walked over to the young girl and held out a hand. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Taking Erza's hand and standing up, the girl blushed in embarrassment and shyly replied, "Thank you…I'm okay."

"Are you, perhaps, the mage from Cait Shelter?" Simon asked.

"Y-yes," she nervously confirmed. "M-my name is Wendy Marvell. I may not be very good at fighting, but I know some support magic, so please take care of me!" She sped through her introduction and ended it with a bow.

"Please child, have more confidence," a female, somewhat haughty voice sounded behind her.

The Fairy Tail mages looked behind Wendy to see a talking, white cat wearing a red dress and a red bow near the end of her tail. The cat walked up and stood beside the young girl.

"S-sorry, Carla," Wendy apologized.

"Anyway, I am Erza Scarlet and this is Simon Mikazuchi," Erza introduced herself and her friend. "We will be working together I supposed."

Wendy's eyes seemed to sparkle as she finally recognized the scarlet knight. "Carla, look! It's actually 'Titania'!" Wendy squealed in excitement. "I'm a big fan!"

"Y-you don't say…"

Simon smirked. "What a nickname, huh, Titania?"

Erza huffed and raised her head high. "I will take pride in being called the queen of the fairies."

"Look. As much as I don't enjoy ya people banterin' about, I still have a job for ya," the blacksmith told them.

"A-apologies," Erza stuttered.

"By the way, the name's Rhodi," the blacksmith introduced himself. "The reason why the young girl over here needed help was 'cause of her lack of offensive magic."

"Why would you need offensive magic for a mining request?" Simon asked the obvious.

"Seems the Council screwed up and left out part of the job description," Rhodi explained. "See, if it was just minin', I'd just go over to the cave myself."

"That would make sense…"

"Right? No point in hirin' a bunch of mages to do my job. I ain't old enough to be that lazy yet," Rhodi said with a huff. He then sighed. "Unfortunately, the cave's been swarmin' with bandits and monsters lately."

"And that's where we come in, I presume?" Erza asked.

He simply nodded. "Say, ya got any way to contact that teammate of yours?"

Erza shook her head. "No, but I believe that she can handle a few bandits and monsters."

Wendy tilted her head in confusion. "Teammate?"

"Our teammate, Aster, went ahead," Simon told her.

"Doesn't that mean that we should go help her?" Wendy asked.

The two older mages glanced at each other before looking back at Wendy. "Probably," they both said.

* * *

After receiving more details about the ore they were supposed to find, they were given five large bags, pickaxes, and were sent on their way. Rhodi had told them that if they hiked southwest through the forest, they would end up at the cave in which the ore was found.

"I never thought that there would be more than one talking cat," Simon said offhandedly as he glanced at Carla then back at the trail in front of them.

"It is strange," Erza agreed.

Wendy was curious. "What do you mean?"

"One of our teammates is like Carla, except he's blue," Erza explained. "His name is Happy."

"Can you fly as well?" Simon asked the cat.

"Yes, I can," Carla answered simply.

"Maybe we can introduce you to him someday," Erza offered.

"I'm fine, thank you," was her response.

Erza looked over to Simon who shrugged. All Wendy could do was look sheepish due to her friend's behavior.

In an attempt to change the subject, Erza went over the details that Rhodi had told them. "I have never met a blacksmith that has used this type of ore before."

"Ores don't usually glow, do they?" Simon asked.

Erza shook her head. "No, not necessarily."

"What if they're filled with magic?" Wendy wondered excitedly. "What do you think, Carla?"

"It could be possible," was her response.

And with that, the conversation unceremoniously died.

The number of trees started to dwindle as the group drew closer to their destination until they reached a clearing with only a few trees. They looked up to see the snowy peak of the mountain they had arrived at, only now realizing that they were at the base of it since the trees carefully covered their overhead along the journey. At the base of the mountain, was the cave.

"Uh…so are those the bandits that Rhodi was talking about?"

Everyone's heads snapped to Simon who pointed at the two trees that were the closest to the cave's entrance. Sure enough, there were three bandits nailed to each tree. They were hanging from the daggers that were stabbed through the clothing around their forearms and they were high enough on the tree so that they couldn't touch the ground.

"What happened here?" a surprised Wendy asked.

Erza went up to examine the situation and notified them of what she found. "The bandits are alive, just unconscious." She looked closer. "These do look like the daggers that Aster uses…"

"Oh…there's a note." Simon pulled the dagger out of a piece of paper that was stuck on one of the trees.

"What does it say?"

"Do you have rope in your requip space, Erza?" Simon read aloud. "If you do, tie up the bandits and bring my daggers back to me. If not, leave them there and I'll get them later. I'll be waiting inside. Aster." Simon shrugged as he finished reading the note. "Looks like she's fine."

"Then I guess we should go catch up with her," Erza stated before doing as the note instructed.

After she had finished tying up the bandits and storing Aster's daggers in her requip space, they headed into the cave. Torches were mounted on the wall, unlit due to the lack of recent mining expeditions.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No ores. No monsters. No Aster.

"I can sort of smell something…" Wendy said as she carefully sniffed the air.

Simon raised an eyebrow. "You can _smell_ something?"

Wendy nodded as she took another whiff, closing her eyes in the process to try and focus on her nose.

"Wendy is a Sky Dragon Slayer, so her senses are better than most," Carla told them.

Erza's and Simon's eyes widened. "Another Dragon Slayer?"

Wendy was still trying to sniff the air, until her concentration was broken by a deep roar that came from somewhere further ahead.

Surprised, Wendy let out a yelp as she opened her eyes and stared at the darkness that led them deeper into the cave.

"Come on, let's go!" Erza ordered as she charged forward, Simon quickly following after her.

Wendy was silent for a moment before promptly running after them. "Please don't leave me here alone!"

"You're not alone, child!" Carla reminded her before muttering, "Brutes…all of them."

When Wendy and Carla caught up with the two Fairy Tail mages, they were standing in a vast cavern which glowed an eerie purple. The source of the glow was from the abundance of ore they were supposed to find.

And in the center, was the creature that roared.

They heard a bleat, but this one sounded…deranged, not like any normal goat. It sounded coarse, and shifted pitches as if its vocal cords had been tampered with.

Everyone's eyes had widened.

"What…the hell is that?" Simon asked, not believing what he and the others were seeing.

Fear gripped Wendy's voice as she spoke. "I-I don't know…" She took a step back when they heard a hiss.

What stood in the center was a huge grey creature that stood on all fours, but even then, it surpassed Simon in terms of height, who was the tallest of their group. With the head of a lion, a goat's head attached to the side of the body, hooves at the end of each leg, and a snake's body as a tail, the three-headed _abomination_ menacingly turned towards them and let out a myriad of roars, bleats, and hisses.

"I've only read about them," Erza said as she somewhat regained her composure. "A chimera."

Simon stared at the ominous glowing yellow eyes of each head. "Chi- what?"

"It's a creature that's composed of body parts from different animals."

"H-how do we f-fight it?" Wendy managed out in a small voice.

The lion's head opened its mouth and roared again, but this time, a reddish-orange magic circle formed, and the creature breathed fire which headed straight towards them.

Erza reacted quickly and stepped in front of everyone while requipping into her Adamantine Armor. Using her armor's defensive prowess, she was able to block the stream of fire with a magic barrier.

"The book never specified how to fight one, only saying that chimeras could vary immensely!" she yelled while still blocking the flames.

"How does it know magic?!" Simon's question was met with silence from his companions.

When the flames died down, Erza requipped into her Blackwing Armor and dashed towards the chimera. Sidestepping as the lion's fangs tried to close around her shoulder, Erza swung her sword into the side of its body, only to come to a frightening realization that the chimera's fur was not grey. In fact, the chimera was almost entirely covered in grey scales, their hardness having been tested as Erza's blade harmlessly bounced off with a loud 'clang'.

Jumping back to a different side of the cavern, Erza now had the attention of the lion's head. The goat's head, however, was staring at Simon, Wendy, and Carla, seemingly waiting for them to make a move.

" **Dark Moment** ," Simon chanted. For the group of mages, nothing seemed to change, but for the chimera, the entire cavern should've been engulfed in complete darkness.

Erza, recognizing the spell, silently moved to try and get in the chimera's blind spot, but she quickly realized something grim.

The lion's eyes followed her.

Eyes widened with shock, Erza quickly brought out a shield as another roar of fire was sent her way.

"It can still see!" she warned the others. The shield she was using didn't have any special defensive properties, but even though Erza was slowly being pushed back, it still held up against the chimera's fire.

"What?!" Simon was shocked.

Erza requipped into a greenish-silver set of armor that consisted of a breastplate, waistguard, gauntlets, and leg plates. She wore black pants, brown elbow guards, and had a Fairy Tail emblem decorating each pauldron. She carried a large, silver lance in one hand and continued to block the flames with the shield in her other.

Realizing what Erza had planned, Wendy started chanting, " **Fast wind that run the heaven…Vernier! Power of the stout arms that tears heaven…Arms!** "

A blue magic circle appeared below Erza and she felt her body become lighter. She wasn't being pushed back anymore and held her ground with ease. She looked on in surprise before nodding in thanks towards Wendy.

When the chimera stopped breathing fire, Erza charged in once again, albeit much faster than before. The chimera turned, the snake's head hissing as Erza's lance shot forward. Her weapon struck the scales, but she was sure that she hadn't managed to pierce them. The chimera's tail coiled around the weapon before attempting to sink its fangs into her flesh. Erza bashed her shield into the snake's head, stunning it long enough for her to leap away to a safe distance.

Their dire situation seemed to get worse when the goat's head opened its mouth and started spewing fire as well.

Simon grabbed Wendy and Carla before jumping to the side as the flames rushed past them. Setting them down when they were safe, they regrouped with Erza as they tried to decide what to do.

Erza narrowed her eyes. "Those scales are too thick, my weapons can't pierce through," she stated, sounding a bit annoyed.

"We should run," Carla told them. "Safety should be prioritized over this atrocious mission."

Simon, not being part of the guild for long, agreed with Carla's plan to escape. However, Erza was more prideful, unaccepting of the option which would stain her guild's name.

None of them noticed the chimera's shadow shifting.

* * *

Wendy didn't know what to do. The chimera seemed to be pacing back and forth while staring at them, as if it was examining its prey right before…

Wendy shook herself out of her thoughts and looked to the older mages for direction…to find them arguing about what to do next. Erza seemed adamant on staying and finishing the job while Simon and Carla were trying to convince her why it was a bad idea.

That was when Wendy saw a figure emerge from the chimera's shadow and punch its belly with a glowing fist.

The figure fully emerged as the chimera was actually sent flying into the cavern wall, much to Wendy's shock.

A black-haired girl stood before them with a bag strung over one shoulder and a hand outstretched as she uttered a single word. " **Pillar**."

A black magic circle appeared above the dazed chimera and, not even a second later, a shadowy pillar descended upon the creature, making it roar, bleat, and hiss all at the same time.

Jumping out of the pillar's effective area after only a few moments, the lion's head opened its mouth and an all-too familiar magic circle appeared…right before a dagger flew through the air and into the chasm from which the flames were supposed to come, making the chimera roar in pain.

Taking advantage of the pained chimera's state, which looked like it was trying to cough up the dagger, the girl ran up close, formed a sword that looked almost pure black, and cut off the snake's head which spewed blood all around the ground.

Wendy covered her eyes in disgust, before peeking between her fingers out of curiosity.

A distorted bleat came from the goat's head as it tried to breathe fire in her direction, only to get a dagger in its mouth too.

The chimera was now a mess. Blood dripped from both of the remaining heads' mouths and the beheaded tail was still flailing around, spraying blood all over the surrounding area.

Jumping back over to the group, purple skirt fluttering as she moved through the air, the girl looked over to them after landing and casually said, "Hey."

Wendy was amazed, and it seemed to show on her face, if Carla shaking her head when she looked at her was of any indication.

"Where have you been?" Erza asked, almost sounding annoyed at the black-haired girl.

'Do they know each other?' Wendy asked herself.

The black-haired girl looked almost sheepish as she replied, "I…got lost in the cave."

"You got lost?"

"It's hard navigating through these tunnels, you know," she complained. "Just be grateful that I got here in time to help deal with this."

"D-do you know how to fight a chimera?" Wendy asked, taking a glance at said creature and shivering as the lion's head had just spit out a bloody dagger in a puddle of spit. The goat's head seemed to be having more trouble.

Intense grey eyes turned towards her and stared at her own brown ones. For a split second, Wendy saw the new girl's eyes widen before narrowing. She seemed to be thinking about something, but her stare made Wendy quite uncomfortable, so the young Dragon Slayer averted her eyes out of nervousness.

Luckily, Carla was there to rescue her. "Ahem."

The girl snapped out of it. "O-oh, sorry about it. You just reminded me of an old friend."

"That's okay…" Wendy was still a bit put off by the extended eye contact.

"As for your question, I looked for the chimera's weak points."

This seemed to pique Erza's interest. "Weak points?"

The girl nodded. "The snake wasn't covered in scales, and the inside of the mouths aren't either. If we aim for those, we can probably win."

Carla huffed. She didn't seem to like this new girl after her staredown with Wendy. "If you're so _smart_ , then I supposed you've already come up with a plan to defeat it."

Unperturbed by Carla's attitude, the girl simply said, "Actually, I have."

She then started whispering in Erza's ear, with the red-haired knight nodding at some instances.

The black-haired girl moved away and asked, "Got it?"

Erza nodded in confirmation, then turned to Simon and told him, "Protect Wendy and Carla."

The new girl turned to Wendy and seemed to contemplate something before saying, "You can look if you want, but you can cover your eyes if it's too much. What's about to happen, I mean." Her eyes seemed to soften compared to that intense look from before.

Was it because Wendy was young? The bluenette wasn't sure.

When Erza ran in, Wendy decided to cover her eyes, but kept peeking through the gaps between her fingers. She saw the lion open its mouth and the magic circle appearing, but the spell was abruptly stopped as Erza's lance was shoved straight into the chimera's mouth, half of it still sticking out.

"Now, Aster!" Erza yelled as she moved out of the way.

'So _that's_ Aster…' Wendy realized as the girl in question ran up.

Aster's fist was glowing when she jumped and, much to Wendy's surprise, _punched_ the base of the pole so hard that the entire weapon disappeared within the chimera's body.

There was an audible crack, and blood came out of both mouths as the chimera dropped to the ground, unmoving.

Wendy's eyes widened before shutting. She had seen enough blood for one day.

She let out a whimper as Aster and Erza discussed how to cut open the creature.

* * *

"So…no bandits or monsters, huh?" I gave Erza a smirk.

She turned away, but her sheepish tone betrayed her emotions. "W-well, we should always expect the unexpected…"

I responded with a chuckle. "You're not wrong."

We were almost done removing the grey scales that were shockingly _stitched_ to the chimera. Erza was removing the rest as I started cutting into the flesh with a dagger.

"By the way, can I have my daggers back?"

"Huh?" She turned back to me and cleared her throat. "Oh, right."

She requipped all of them out and handed them to me. I put them back in their places and went back to work.

The young girl, Wendy as I now knew since we were introduced shortly after the battle, was off with her cat, Carla, and Simon. The three of them were getting a head start with our original objective…away from the chimera's corpse, much to their relief.

'Another Dragon Slayer, huh?' I mused.

Wendy was a little interested in how I learned Strength Magic since it was similar to her, as she called them, enchantments.

I told her that I learned it from a book I found in the trash years ago while I was travelling around. Much to her disappointment, which showed on her face, I told her that I lost it along the way. She must've thought that she could learn from it and make her enchantments stronger or something.

I couldn't help but remember how I actually learned it, though…

" _Since you have all found your primary magics and have had some practice, it is time for you to develop your secondary and tertiary magics," Doc's authoritative voice sounded. "We will begin with Strength Magic."_

 _The Master Assassin next to him stepped forward. "We will split you off into groups and teach you how to channel raw magic energy into your body parts."_

 _Ella seemed to be deep in thought. When Juno asked her what she was thinking about, Ella looked at us, tilted her head, and asked, "If we use Strength Magic on our heads, can we break boulders by headbutting them?"_

 _Our reactions boiled down to one word. "…what?"_

" _I guess it would depend on how strong our magic is? So would we be able to control…" Ella continued murmuring to herself._

 _I sighed and sent a questioning look towards Juno. Though, with my mask on, she wouldn't have seen it._

 _She seemed to sense the look I was giving her and shrugged in response. She shifted her mask just so that I could see the teasing smirk she adopted. "If anything, you probably don't even need any Strength Magic to headbutt a boulder with how hard-headed you are, Aster."_

"…"

" _Heh, rendered speechless I see."_

" _You win this time…" I conceded as she nodded in satisfaction. True enough, her insult was pretty good…and I had no comeback._

' _I'll come up with something and get her next time,' I thought._

 _I learned much about my two companions while in the facility. How Ella thought about random things or how she took every challenge on with a smile. How Juno seemed to jokingly insult those she deemed close to her or how she refused to take breaks when she concentrated deeply in training. My conversations with them were normal enough that us being assassins-in-training almost slipped my mind a couple times._

 _We stood in our group as a Senior Assassin gave us a demonstration. Their fist glowed a soft yellow before they punched a wooden target dummy which broke upon impact._

 _They turned to us. "Now, it's your turn."_

I was brought out of my memories by my dagger hitting something hard. From the feel of it, the object was spherical, unlike the shape of Erza's lance which I expected to feel somewhere within the corpse. After digging through the chimera's innards, I reached in and tried pulling on the object only to fail when it got stuck. I felt around it before realizing why.

"Erza, can you make a deep cut right about there," I asked as I pointed at a place aligned with the spherical object and the lion's mouth.

She aimed her sword. "Right here?" When I nodded, she brought her blade down and began cutting the corpse open.

Spotting the outline of her lance, Erza reached inside with a grimace and pulled on the pole, using a sword to cut away anything that was obstructing the weapon's retrieval.

Finally freeing her lance, she pulled the bloody weapon upwards to find that it had pierced through what looked like a lacrima.

"What the…" Erza trailed off as she removed the object from the tip of her lance. "A lacrima?"

"Looks like it."

The lacrima faintly glowed red before it finally succumbed to the hole that was pierced through it, reducing it to a colourless, glassy sphere devoid of magic.

"Might've been the power source," I suggested.

She frowned. "You may be right, but…how?"

"Maybe Master Makarov will know something about it." I suggested.

She nodded as she put it in her requip space.

Erza's lance and sword disappeared into her requip space as she requipped into her Heart Kreuz armor.

I picked up a couple handfuls of the scales from the ground and started putting them in my bag as well.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Never know when these might come in handy," I told her.

"Want the lion's fangs as well?" she smirkingly asked.

"…no," I deadpanned.

"Well then, if that's all we need, we should go help the others now with the job request."

I nodded as she took out two pickaxes from her requip space and handed one to me.

I didn't tell them anything about what I found deeper in the cave. I didn't tell them about the lab that I broke into. Not about the research notes on a magic-proof vest. Not about the body preservation coffin I found lying around. Not about the blueprints for a magic chimera.

And most certainly not about the crumpled up letter addressed to one Levy McGarden.

* * *

It was well past dinnertime when we got back to the village, with dusk approaching quickly as the residents continued to busy themselves.

After receiving our reward, and having a quick bite, we headed to an inn and rented a room for the night. Luckily, they had rooms with four beds available, and I assumed that Wendy and Carla wouldn't mind sleeping together.

Speaking of which, the poor blue-haired girl looked like she was about to pass out on the spot. With Carla softly telling her that they were almost there, Wendy swayed back and forth as she walked with us, her eyelids drooping due to her drowsiness.

Soon enough, everyone had been tucked in and snoozing away in the plain inn room.

Everyone except for me.

I moved the blanket aside and carefully got out of bed without making a noise. I looked over to Wendy's bed and saw the girl cuddled up next to Carla.

I let a soft smile grace my features. 'Like this, she really does look like Juno…'

Appearance-wise, I couldn't help but compare the two. Although, they acted completely different, and their eyes…

Sure, in Wendy's, I still saw the small amount of determination that wasn't overshadowed by her nervousness. But Juno's eyes had that fire in them…almost like she was prepared to conquer the world.

I shook myself out of my thoughts, changed out of my nightwear and into something more appropriate, put on my leather boots, and headed out the door, quietly closing it behind me. I left the inn and headed towards Worth Woodsea.

I couldn't help but feel like someone was watching our group as soon as we stepped foot into town the previous night.

My senses were tingling.

Reaching a point deep enough in the woods, I called out, "Who's there?"

"I didn't think you would notice me, mademoiselle…" someone said from behind.

I turned and jumped back to gain some distance just as a slim man clad in a brown suit rose from the ground. He wore a monocle and had a strange cape attached to both of his elbows.

"And you are?" I asked impatiently.

He bowed and introduced himself. "Pardon, mademoiselle. My name is Sol."

'Sol? As in the ex-Phantom Lord member who joined Naked Mummy?' I thought to myself. My blood boiled. I may not have had anything against Sol, but with Ella's death still fresh in my memory, I couldn't help but hate anything and anyone associated with the dark guild that ended her life.

"-tom Lord should have been the best in Fiore. Mais non! Fairy Tail stepped in…" he said darkly. "Mon plan was to take revenge for that humiliation…but I found something more interesting."

My left hand itched to grab a dagger, but I bided my time. "And what did you find sooo interesting?" I sarcastically asked while rolling my eyes, trying not to let my anger show.

He smirked evilly. "This." He formed statues made out of the earth beneath us and my eyes widened.

I recognized each and every one of them.

My mother, father, and Master Yurick.

He wasn't done.

"Ella…" I murmured as I stared at a statue that looked exactly like her the day she died. The empty eyes stared back.

A new one formed, understandably shorter than Ella's when I recognized it was a child. "Juno…"

"Fairy Tail, accepting assassins?" Sol covered his mouth in fake shock. "To think, if the Council heard about this! But first, I'll make you fall into despair, as you beg for mer-"

"You know," I cut him off. "You're not very smart, Sol."

He seemed a bit taken aback. "Pardon?"

My shock was replaced by an eerie calm as I realized what he did. "You've somehow read my memories, right?"

He bowed again. "Oui, vous êtes correcte, mademoiselle."

I had no idea what he just said, but his bow confirmed my assumption.

"Then you should've run," I darkly said.

"Eh?" he managed before I darted through the statues using my Speed Magic and sent a strong chop to the side of his neck, effectively knocking him out.

The statues crumbled, having been held together by Sol's magic.

"An earth mage, I guess," I muttered to myself. "Alright then, time to set up."

"Ah, Aster. How's your mission in Kajiya Village going?" Doc asked through the lacrima.

I didn't bother answering his question. Instead, I pulled out a lacrima-powered lamp out of my requip space and powered it on. "Your informants are pretty good, aren't they?"

"They blend into their surroundings very nicely in my opinion," he said, smiling. "Well, anyway, for what reason did you call me in the middle of the night?"

"Him." I pointed to Sol, who was tied upside down to a high enough tree branch so that he couldn't reach the ground. His hands were tied behind his back and cloth was tightly tied around his mouth in case he woke up. Below him, was a pit that I dug out a couple minutes prior, with piles of dirt surrounding it.

"What a catch," Doc amusingly said.

"Is there a bounty for him?" I asked Doc.

Some dark mages had a price over their heads, a bounty set up by a noble or some other rich person who was willing to pay if the mage, given the evidence, was either captured or killed. These were different from regular missions that the Doc sent assassins on, though. Anyone could claim these bounties, but we were forbidden from leaving the village just to hunt for a bounty in case the Doc had an important mission for us. So the only way for us to claim a bounty, was if we met the target during a mission by chance.

Surprisingly, some of the bounties even came from the council. Of course, not directly, but Doc probably figured out some back-alley method to receive them.

I didn't exactly know how the whole system worked, but I knew this much…

Bounties were sent out to all guilds, but the type of bounty depended on the type of guild. Legal guilds received bounties like the jobs they saw on their request boards, usually dictating how they had to capture some bad guy or whatever. Dark guilds received bounties where the client didn't care if the target was dead or alive, but based on how dark mages acted, I guessed that most targets ended up dead anyway.

Our organization, however, only received bounties for somewhat well-known dark mages since their deaths wouldn't necessarily make the Magic Council suspicious. Bounties were rarely claimed anyway, since the chances of meeting, and recognizing, a dark mage while on a mission were pretty low. Some dark mages that were targeted for assassination also had bounties, in which case the assassin would receive the money from both the client who ordered the assassination, and the client who put up the bounty.

Doc kept track of all the finance. Who pays what, where the money's picked up, what happens to the client if they don't have the money…that kind of stuff. When I asked him why we accepted bounties, his answer was along the lines of 'some people not needing to die yet, but others wouldn't mind if they did'…I didn't fully understand it.

"Name?" the Doc questioned.

"Sol. Used to be a member of Phantom Lord."

I heard Doc flipping through what sounded like papers until the noise stopped and he chuckled. "Phantom Lord was disbanded only what? Two weeks ago? And somehow, this guy already has a bounty. Must've pissed off some rich guy."

"How much?" I impatiently asked. I needed to get back to the inn in case my guildmates woke up.

"Only a hundred and fifty thousand."

"Well, he read my memories, so I'll be claiming the bounty in the meantime anyway," I said nonchalantly.

Through the lacrima, I saw the Doc frown. "You know what to do."

"Record it as evidence so the bounty can be claimed," I told him. "Won't have time to bring you his head anyway, so I'll be burying him right after."

"Keep your face and other known features out of the frame," he reminded me.

"I'll wear a cloak to hide my clothes, and the hood should hide my hair. I'll wear the voice-changer and keep my back towards the lacrima." I stepped out of the frame, pulled out a cloak from my requip space, and draped it over my body. Pulling the hood up, I took out the voice-changing device and wore it around my neck. I adjusted its settings and spoke. "Testing, testing," I said in a deep voice that couldn't be recognized as my own. Finally, I got my mask out and put it on.

"Recording…now," Doc notified me.

I pointed the lacrima straight at Sol, then I stepped into the frame with a sword I materialized seconds before. Making sure that I wasn't blocking the view, I moved the lamp over his face so that the client could get a good look at it when reviewing the evidence.

And that was when Sol woke up.

At first, he seemed dazed, but then he noticed me and my blade and his eyes widened with panic. He tried to yell but his voice was muffled due to the cloth.

Still holding the light towards Sol, while making sure that my body covered my prosthetic arm, I raised my sword.

Sol became more frantic, rocking his body back and forth as if it would've changed anything.

My next action told him that his struggle was in vain. My sword cleanly passed through his neck, his head falling into the pit with blood spilling everywhere below the hanging corpse. I then cut the rope, dropping the lifeless body into the pit as well.

"Alright, that should be all," Doc's voice sounded through the lacrima, meaning that he stopped recording. "I hope your mission is going well. I let loose a chimera around that region and I never found out what happened to it. Probably dead by now, if I had to guess, so you don't have to worry about running into it."

I almost dropped the lamp at that remark. 'That would mean…'

Placing the lamp onto the ground, I pulled some cloth out of my requip space and cleaned my sword, before throwing the cloth into the pit and requipping the blade away.

I nodded towards Doc and said, "That's all for now, then."

"I look forward to your next report," was all he said before the call ended.

I requipped away the lacrima and pulled out a shovel instead. The piles of dirt had blood splattered on them but they were all dumped into the pit anyway. Soon enough, the pit and blood were nowhere in sight as I patted down the dirt.

After cleaning up everything else, I headed back to town.

Just in case, I went to a bathhouse that was opened throughout the night and washed up.

'I'll just tell them that I couldn't sleep and so I decided to take a dip,' I thought of my excuse.

I didn't need Wendy questioning my 'scent'.

* * *

"You didn't have to do this…" Wendy shyly told the Fairy Tail mages sitting with her in the covered wagon with a nervous smile. They were on their way to Cait Shelter, the older mages volunteering to take her back.

'They are pretty nice,' Wendy thought with a smile. 'Even if they are a bit strange.'

Erza gave her a dismissive wave and a smile. "Nonsense. It's only proper that we escort you back to your guild."

Before Wendy could respond, Carla frowned and made a 'tch' sound. "You lot looking down on her isn't helping with her self-esteem, or is that how Fairy Tail mages always act? Too good for the lesser known guilds?"

Wendy's smile dropped, and so did everyone else's.

"Carla, apologize!" Wendy frantically whispered to her friend.

Simon frowned. "That…that wasn't what we were doing."

"We meant no offence," Erza added. "Travelling in a larger group is simply safer."

Carla rolled her eyes. "Right…"

"Carla!" Wendy pleaded.

"You talk like you scolding her is helping with her self-confidence." This came from Aster, who sat across from them with her arms crossed. "Yeah, sure, it helps to know what she needs to improve on, but I'm sure she's heard enough about it from you, based on how you act."

Carla narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying?"

"Don't just tell her to be more confident in herself, _train_ her. Find someone who can teach her how to fight. Having more skills is a big confidence booster. What, you think we all started out like this?" she motioned to herself and her guildmates. "We all trained and fought hard to get stronger, physically and mentally. Experience teaches best, after all."

"Wendy is too young to learn how to fight!" Carla retorted.

"She's not, and your overprotectiveness needs to be toned down a bit. How do you expect her to become confident in herself if she's constantly relying on you?"

Carla opened her mouth but no words came out. Wendy nervously looked back and forth between the two. Her best friend shut her mouth and looked away with a grimace, while Aster simply closed her eyes while resting her hands on her lap.

The rest of the trip was filled with an awkward silence.

* * *

I kept recounting my conversation with Doc in my head.

'If he let that chimera loose, then that would mean…'

I never thought that she would be the informant, but I guess it didn't really matter.

'She does her job while I do mine,' I mused. 'Guess the letter makes sense now…most of it, at least.'

 _Dear Levy McGarden,_

 _The tests involving the chimera have been completed. Thank you for your help with its development as we have learned a lot about the capabilities of a Dragon Slayer lacrima._

 _I know you are of curious nature, therefore, as part of your payment, you may proceed to dismantle the chimera and keep the lacrima for yourself._

 _The rest of your payment will be sent shortly._

 _Regards,_

 _Desolate Optics Corporation_

'Desolate Optics Corporation…' I thought as I inwardly sighed. 'D.O.C., huh?'

It didn't take a genius to figure out who sent it.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Wow I'm so late that Spice and Wolf season 3 was announced.**

 **Get it? 'Cause season 3…it's never…nevermind…**

 **Anyway, life has been really busy for me, but you all know how that song and dance goes. Finally had a chance to finish this chapter though, so that's a plus. It's also the longest chapter in this story so far…which was seriously unplanned for (almost 9k). This chapter was even supposed to include part of, if not all, of the Fantasia/Battle of Fairy Tail Arc. Yeah…I shifted a bunch of stuff over to chapter ten.**

 **As someone who doesn't like describing clothing in depth unless it's an OC, in this chapter, the only reason why I decided to describe that one armor Erza wore (with the silver lance) was because it's unnamed. On the wiki, it's called Piercing Armor, which not only sounds kinda dumb, but most people probably wouldn't even know the general look of it (unlike most of her named armors) if I just told you that she requipped into it. Decided to add that armor in because I feel like I would've forgotten about it later on and I actually like how it looks (more than some of her regular stuff). If you don't know what it looks like (since my description is kinda trash), search it up. Since Erza's Requip Magic is 'The Knight', I think it's one of the armors that actually makes her look the part.**

 **Regarding future chapters, I've decided to add a very short Edolas arc in my plans since I thought it would be weird to just…skip over it. Did I mention this before? I didn't bother checking my previous author notes before writing this…well if I did, then this is a reminder heh.**

 **Thank you to those who continue to support this story through favorites, follows, and reviews and sorry you have to put up with my abysmal upload schedule, but…life.**

 **See you next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** **A few details changed here and there regarding this arc, but nothing too major.**

'Telepathy' **will be the format that I'm using. It's the same as** 'Thoughts' **since I don't want to promote confusion if I were to italicize it (which I would've done if I hadn't already decided that flashbacks were italicized). Besides, telepathy and thoughts both occur in people's heads, so it makes some sense…I think.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten – The Queen's Descent into the Shadows**

 _The three of us entered the cafeteria and the whispers instantly started, the word 'prodigy' passed around more than a handful of times. Ella didn't seem to care, taking gleeful strides across the white tiles as she hummed a tune probably no one had ever heard before. I walked confidently, as I normally did, though I had reason to be less nervous than my blue-haired friend. Juno was trying to be confident, but I could tell that her hands were shaking a bit._

' _Must be those assassin instincts kicking in,' I thought._

 _Despite how she acted, she didn't like having a lot of attention on herself, which was unfortunate for our current situation._

 _All eyes were on us, or more specifically, Juno._

 _Only when we sat at our usual table with our dinner did she visibly relax, sighing in relief as most of the children seemed to lose interest…for now._

" _They'll be back to watching you again when training comes around," I reminded her with a smirk she couldn't see._

" _Ugh…" Juno hung her head. "Why did this happen…?"_

" _Well, 'Miss Prodigy', you did say that they discovered you having_ two _primary magics," Ella remarked, giggling._

" _I told you two, but_ someone _had to yell it out for everyone else to hear," Juno grumbled._

 _I imagined her glaring at our green-haired friend who sheepishly rubbed the back of her head while saying, "Uh…sorry about that. I was really surprised, that's all."_

 _Juno sighed. "It's fine, I guess."_

" _What's the problem, then?" I finally piped up. "At the end of the two year training, you'll have five magics instead of four. Another weapon you can use, basically."_

 _She rested her chin on her palm. "Yeah, I know, but an assassin should be able to pass through undetected, and I basically failed at that. I mean, I was already attracting enough attention being one of the top fighters here."_

 _That wasn't her arrogance talking, since it seemed to be unanimously agreed upon among the children._

" _Well it's not exactly your fault," I stated, sending a sideways glance towards Ella, who was playing with her food._

" _It partially is, I think. Basic information control, right?" Juno reasoned._

 _I nodded in understanding. "True. You could've told us in secret, or you could've just told us not to freak out." I laughed a bit. "You did tell us without any warning whatsoever."_

" _Yeah…"_

" _Look at it this way, not all assassins hide in the shadows, right?"_

 _She tilted her head in thought. "You mean being able to hide in the open?"_

 _I nodded. "Exactly. Blending in even though you're special. Real assassins should be able to do that, at least."_

" _I see…" She processed everything before saying with determination, "Alright then! This'll be just like training!"_

 _Ella gave her a knowing smile. "That's more like it!" Ella cheered as her fork clattered on her metal tray. "In a way, I helped! Right?"_

 _She looked back and forth between Juno and I. With no response from either of us, she whimpered and went back to playing with her food._

' _Well, she did help, so she isn't wrong.'_

 _We giggled at her reaction before finally having dinner. I lifted the bottom portion of my mask so only my mouth was visible and began to eat._

 _I smiled inwardly. I made two very talented and smart friends._

 _If anything, Ella probably announced Juno's extra magic on purpose to teach her a lesson._

' _The lesson that I ended up explaining…' I thought. 'Did she know that I would speak up? Or did I just beat her to it?'_

 _I looked over to the girl who was done playing with her food, now animatedly eating it as she made noises of content._

' _Maybe I'll ask her later…'_

"Aster, wake up. We're here."

My eyes fluttered open and I instinctively tried to rub the drowsiness away from them. Lifting my head and blinking a few times, the first thing I saw was Erza's Heart Kreuz armor. The red-haired mage was leaning down in front of me, her face surprisingly close to mine. She stood straight and coughed.

"Let us return to the guild to prepare for the rest of the festival," she told us, promptly leaving the covered wagon while we followed. "I presume that we have already missed the Miss Fairy Tail Contest."

"What's that?" Simon asked her.

"A beauty contest among the women of Fairy Tail," was her response. "The winner would receive five hundred thousand jewels. Many people watch it, including the citizens."

"Lucy must be all over that reward then," I added with a chuckle. "Isn't she always complaining about rent money?"

The other two laughed. "The others must be back by now, so she probably did participate."

"Would you have participated, Erza?" Simon curiously asked her.

"I usually do."

Simon and I both hummed in response.

"You probably would've had a good chance of winning," I nonchalantly remarked.

I let my implications settle in as a slight blush creeped up on Erza's face.

"W-why, thank you, Aster."

'And they say flattery gets you nowhere.' I inwardly smirked. 'This is too easy…'

Arriving at the edge of the city, I noticed something a bit strange.

"Are those part of the festival, too?" I pointed towards the many floating lacrimas around the city.

Erza narrowed her eyes. "But that's…" She never finished her sentence as she ran forward into town.

Simon and I quickly followed her, both of us confused as to why she was in such a hurry.

"Erza!" Simon called after her. "What are those things?"

"Laxus' Thunder Palace!" she shouted. "The lacrimas are filled with Lightning Magic, meaning if they were to be used, the citizens would be in grave danger."

Simon looked over to me. "Who's Laxus?"

"Master's grandson," I answered. "Thinks he's a bigshot. Makes his attitude intolerable."

"Why hasn't anyone stopped him yet?" was his next question.

"Guess we're about to find out."

'-one found them yet?' A voice sounding in my head stopped my running. By the looks of it, Simon and Erza heard it too, shown by them stopping as well and looking slightly confused.

"Telepathy?"

"That must be…" Erza trailed off before putting a hand to her head in concentration.

'Warren!' her voice sounded in my head.

I guessed that Warren was a Fairy Tail mage.

'Erza?' Warren sounded relieved. 'You've returned! We actually have a chance now!'

'What do you mean? What's going on? Why is the Thunder Palace activated?' Erza fired off all of her questions.

'Laxus and the Thunder Legion started a rebellion!'

'What?!'

I wasn't all that surprised.

'He's taking the town hostage and telling the Master to hand over the guild,' Warren continued. 'That's not all. During the Miss Fairy Tail Contest, Evergreen turned all of the girls into stone, and then Freed set up rune traps all over Magnolia. If two or more Fairy Tail members step into his trap, they're forced to fight it out until one of them's left. Laxus is treating it like a game. Whoever's lost isn't allowed to fight anymore. We're trying to get rid of the runes and turn the girls back to normal, but we haven't found the Thunder Legion or Laxus yet, and some of us have already stepped into Freed's rune traps.'

Erza noticeably gritted her teeth. 'Don't worry. We'll find and punish them for their transgressions.'

'Alright, good luck! I'll let you know if anyone spots anything.'

'Please do.'

"Where should we start looking?' Simon asked as Erza turned to face us.

"I'm not sure," the armor-clad mage admitted.

"First," I started. "We need some information."

Erza's look told her to continue.

"How big is this 'Thunder Legion' and what magic do they use?"

"The Thunder Legion is consisted of Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen. They're Laxus' bodyguards of sorts. They each use some form of Eye Magic. While Evergreen's can turn people to stone, it won't be very effective when her opponent knows to counter it, therefore she might have a secondary magic that I'm unaware of. Unfortunately, I know nothing about Bickslow's magic. He may be able to blindside us."

"How about Freed's?"

"He uses some form of Letter Magic, though I'm not sure of its capabilities other than allowing the caster to write different types of runes."

"And he's smart, right?"

She nodded. "I believe so."

I sighed. "He might be hard to deal with then."

"And be careful if you encounter Laxus," she warned. "He may be overly arrogant and stubborn, but he is a S-class mage for good reason."

After nodding in agreement, I could see them both thinking hard to come up with some sort of plan.

"We should split up first," I suggested. "So we don't get stuck in one of those rune traps together."

"Good point," Erza approved. "Hopefully, we'll each find a member of the Thunder Legion and subdue them."

"Are you doubting our abilities, Erza?" I gave her a wry smirk. "I am deeply offended, you know."

Her eyes widened by just a fraction. "Th-that's not what I mea-"

"I'm just joking," I interrupted with a wave of my hand. "I know what you meant."

She gave me an irritated sigh, turned somewhat serious, and simply said, "Let us begin searching."

"Right."

"Good luck to the both of you."

We split off in different directions and started to hunt down the traitors…until I realized my mistake.

'Damn…I forgot to ask what they looked like,' I thought, annoyed at my oversight. 'How sloppy.'

I may have been a bit miffed, but damn was I excited to fight some of the stronger members of the guild. If Laxus allowed these Thunder Legion people to follow him around, that meant that they met his expectations in terms of strength, which was probably moderately high, based on how he acted.

'Evergreen should probably be a priority to turn the girls back to normal,' I decided. 'Not sure what to do about those, though.'

I looked up at the lightning-imbued lacrimas.

'There's at least a couple hundred of them.'

Darting through an alley, I came about an empty street. Storefronts were decorated with balloons, ribbons, and banners that had embroidered words which read 'Magnolia Harvest'. I was lucky that the street was devoid of people, because staring right at me from the opposite alleyway, was the blonde Fairy Tail member who ran the little gift shop back at the guildhall.

He seemed to be a bit surprised to see me, but his shock disappeared as he watched, with a grimace, as purple enchantments closed off a section of the street, forming walls around us, blocking all paths of escape.

"Aw, crap," I heard him mutter.

"You're…Max, right?" I stoically asked.

He smiled somewhat nervously. "Yeah, that's me."

"I wonder how you measure up…" I ominously said.

It had the desired effect as he visibly gulped, but he seemed to steel himself when getting into his battle stance. He lowered his center of gravity and brought both of his open palms out in front of him.

My fists and legs glowed with the use of Strength Magic as I cracked my knuckles. "Well then, shall we?" I didn't give him a chance to answer as I launched myself towards him, creating a small crater in the cobblestone path where I once stood.

" **Sand Wall!** " he yelled out as he extended both of his arms before him, creating a massive sand barrier between the both of us.

My right fist connected with the wall and the barrier gave away. I followed up with a punch to Max's stomach, but to my surprise, my fist went straight through his body. Realizing too late to stop my momentum in time, the fake disintegrated into sand which immediately, and completely, enveloped me.

Without a moment's hesitation, I instinctively formed a shadowy, protective cocoon around my body.

I heard Max call out, " **Sand Slash!** ". Not even a second later, a force collided with the shadows without breaking through them.

I waited for another attack, but when it didn't come, I dispelled my shadowy shell and saw Max standing where I was at the beginning of the fight. A strange satisfaction bubbled up within me when I saw his frown, which was most likely caused by me figuring out his plan and countering it.

"The trap was well-thought out," I commended him nonetheless.

Inching closer towards him, my right hand shifted to my thigh area, right where my daggers were hidden.

"Th-thanks, I guess," he said, shrinking away in what I assumed was apprehension.

I moved quickly. My right hand drew a dagger from underneath my skirt and I whipped it at the blond man, making him jump to his left in panic. The dagger flew past him, embedding itself in the brick wall of a store.

I capitalized on Max's uncontrolled momentum. My left hand, already being in position when I threw the dagger, had already formed a small, dark magic circle of which a shadowy chain flew out and wrapped around Max's wrist. I grabbed the chain and pulled, hard. It worked, as he lost his footing and came flying towards me, unable to stop himself midair.

He let out a panicked yelp, right before my glowing fist collided with his face, knocking him out and granting me the victory. He landed on the ground with a thud, then the runes started to disappear, giving me freedom once again.

I walked over to the storefront, pulled my dagger out of the wall, and slipped it back into its place under my skirt. I silently apologized to the store's owner for the unnecessary damage.

'Then again, if Fairy Tail members are fighting all over town, this is probably nothing compared to what they've done,' I realized. I looked over to Max's unconscious body and wondered, 'Do I leave him here? Do I bring him along with me? He'll probably wake up soon enough so…'

I scratched my head in contemplation before coming to a decision. I took ahold of his arms and dragged him over to the side of the street before leaning him against the brick wall that I had damaged earlier.

And so, Max sat unconscious in front of a store that - I just noticed - had fluffy pillows in the window display, and I couldn't help but wonder if he would need one thanks to the headache I just gave him.

"Now that I've had my warmup, I wonder who's next," I murmured to myself

With that, I ran off in search of more opponents, somewhat hoping that my next one was a member of the famed Thunder Legion.

A thought occurred and I mentally cursed.

"Should've asked Max what the members of the Thunder Legion looked like…"

* * *

If the members of the Thunder Legion were anything like their inspirational figure, then they were probably out in the open, ready to flaunt their power.

Or, at least, that was what I told myself every time I scanned an area that looked fit for a fight.

I had already run into a few other Fairy Tail members whose names I couldn't remember, and as much as I didn't wanna admit it, it was getting a bit annoying.

They weren't really…strong.

I stepped out into another large, open area. Citizens were sitting around on benches, going in and out of stores, preparing for the festival, and completely unaware of what was going on with the guild.

I frowned. 'This might give them a big hint, though.'

Freed's runes activated, but the space within the rune walls was large enough to encompass more than a dozen people. Most of them were bewildered, and some slightly panicked, probably thinking that it was more of Fairy Tail's shenanigans.

They weren't wrong.

People began to quickly move towards the edge of the rune walls, some already harmlessly passing through them. I put on my best 'surprised' look and followed while scanning the crowd still within.

'Be a part of the crowd,' I told myself. 'Find the mage.'

And there she was. A teenage girl with light hair reaching just past her shoulders, wearing a strange, striped dress, and…

I inwardly snickered. 'Is she wearing horns?'

What also stood out, besides the shoes she wore that looked like animal feet, were the gloves she had on, each one sporting the Fairy Tail mark. With how she was suspiciously looking around, I doubted that those were just bought from some merchandise store.

'I wonder if we sell those…'

I sharply turned towards her, strengthened my legs, and launched myself at the unsuspecting mage. She turned, and with shocked eyes, stared as I stopped right in front of her.

"Sorry about this," I apologized, right before grabbing her and driving my knee right into her stomach. The runes disappeared as soon as she passed out and I carried her over to an empty bench, laying her down in what I hoped was a position that wouldn't give her too many back pains.

"Not like it's really my problem now," I told myself as I walked away.

Every encounter with another Fairy Tail mage after Max had been like this. There would be a crowd, I would always find them first, and I would end the fight in one hit. It wasn't even a challenge, since they would just stand there and dart their eyes back and forth while in a fighting stance.

Idiots, really.

Then again, from my time at Fairy Tail, it was pretty obvious that being inconspicuous wasn't their thing.

'Team Natsu especially.' I chuckled at the thought, but then it occurred to me.

Where was Natsu?

If he were fighting, I should've heard an explosion somewhere in town by now. Unless…

'Was he beaten before we arrived?' I wondered.

I turned a corner and started walking down a street that wasn't empty, but wasn't too busy either. My train of thought concerning the whereabouts of the explosive idiot halted as I spotted someone sitting on the edge of one of the store roofs. Light brown hair, glasses, using a feathered fan, and wearing some ridiculous outfit that looked like it had wings sprouting out of the back.

Everything about the woman spoke of 'wanting attention', and that included the green guild mark on the right side of her chest.

Was this Evergreen? I didn't wanna attack a random member for no reason.

'Aster, have you found anything yet?' Simon's voice sounded in my head.

'Oh, perfect timing, Simon,' I responded while sitting down on a bench, trying my best to look like I was just relaxing. 'Didn't know that you knew telepathy.'

'I learned it back in the tower. So, anything?'

'I found a few members that weren't part of the Thunder Legion, but I might have someone now.'

'Really? I still haven't found anything…'

'Really. I need you to contact Erza and ask what the members of the Thunder Legion look like…' I remembered our earlier conversation and corrected myself. 'Better yet, just ask for Evergreen's description since the member in front of me is obviously female.'

'You got it.'

Not long after, Simon contacted me again and relayed the information he got from Erza. Everything was basically the same.

'Alright, it's a match. Thanks Simon.'

'No problem. Good luck.' And the connection was cut.

Making sure I wasn't seen, I left the bench and entered an alleyway in between the store Evergreen sat atop and the adjacent one. I melted into the shadows and crept up the side of the building. If Evergreen was adept at detecting any kinds of magic signatures, she should've noticed me by now.

Instead, she still had her back turned to me when I made it onto the roof

'Whatever,' I thought, slightly disappointed. 'I'll just finish this quickly.'

I readied myself, then four dark magic circles appeared around my opponent. One beneath her, one above, and two at her sides.

She jumped off of the roof right as the chains came out of the magic circles at her sides, and _flew_ above the building.

I made a disgruntled sound as I cancelled the spells.

"Not one for greetings, are we?' she mockingly asked.

'So she did notice me. Was she trying to trick me?'

"Who do you think you are, attacking me without warning? I am a member of Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in Fiore!"

"Evergreen, right," I calmly said.

"Oh, so you know of me? Well, that isn't very surprising, but after today, I will be even more well-known…as Titania, Queen of the Fairies!" she proclaimed.

'Oh? Some conflict with Erza? That's her alias isn't it?' The questions wandered my mind as Evergreen continued to ramble on about how 'undeserving' Erza was of the title.

"Prove it then," I cut her off while lifting my shirt a little, revealing the black guild mark on my waist.

I aimed both of my hands at her as a magic circle formed around each one. I simply said, " **Barrage**." Instantly, the shadowy projectiles started flying towards her, forcing her to fly out of the way. I readjusted my aim and saw her smirk.

I didn't understand until it was too late.

She moved away at the last second, and my projectiles hit one of the lacrimas of the Thunder Palace behind her, destroying it. At first, I didn't think much of it since they were gonna have to be destroyed anyway.

But then, I was struck by lightning.

"AGHHH!" I yelled out in pain. My whole body locked up, then I fell over. My neck was sore, my muscles were sore, _everything_ was sore.

"My, oh my," Evergreen said in that annoying smug tone. "Better be careful where you're aiming those things. Someone could get seriously hurt."

I stood up, trying to ignore the buzzing in my head. I was somewhat unsteady since I was feeling lightheaded, but I didn't care.

I was more than a bit annoyed.

* * *

Evergreen was a little surprised that the girl in front of her managed to get back up after that shock.

'She must've not used that much magic in that attack,' she concluded. 'Body Link Magic does reflect the amount you use, after all.'

"I'll show you how it's done," Evergreen confidently said. Waving her arms, particles of light appeared before her as Evergreen chanted, " **Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!** " A torrent of energy needles instantly flew towards her opponent.

The many energy projectiles somewhat blocked her vision of the girl while the impact of the bombardment was enough to raise a small dust storm on the store's roof. When Evergreen stopped firing, she expected the other mage to be unconscious when the dust cleared. Instead, the black-haired girl was protected by some sort of dark dome. Her fists and legs also started to emit a faint glow.

'What's that?' Evergreen wondered just as dozens of purple magic circles surrounded her. In fact, not only her. They were all over the roof and the area above it.

Dark chains shot out in every direction and Evergreen struggled to dodge them. She tried to maneuver herself around the chains to fly out of range of whatever the strange spell was, but each gap she set her eyes on was diminished into a space she clearly couldn't fit through. It was only then that she took notice of the caster's movements. The girl leapt off of the chains connected to the roof and started maneuvering herself around towards her, grabbing onto chains and using them like footholds as if this entire spell was her own little playground.

Evergreen frowned. More light particles formed and she fired a new torrent of energy needles at her opponent, but she quickly grabbed onto a chain above her, and pulled herself out of the way, all while continuing to get closer and closer.

Evergreen had to readjust her aim while dodging more of those stupid chains.

"Tch. I can't focus on both at the same time!" she grumbled, moving out of the way as another chain flew past her shoulder.

The mage dodged another one of her onslaughts and it was honestly starting to annoy the brunette.

"Fine! Play it that way!" Evergreen yelled in frustration as she took off her glasses and activated her Stone Eyes.

The only problem, was that it didn't work.

'What?'

This moment of shock costed her, as chains wrapped themselves around her right leg and wrist. Unable to break free, she soon found her other limbs in the same predicament.

She watched, speechless, as the mage continued to maneuver around the chains. And it was then that Evergreen realized…

'She's not looking at me…'

Her opponent was, in fact, not looking at her. She was only moving in her general direction, slowly but surely getting closer and closer.

'She knew I couldn't move far from my original position since she trapped me quickly, and all she needed to do was spot the light in her peripheral vision to dodge my **Fairy Machine Gun** …'

Suddenly, the girl formed a dark shield on her arm and launched herself straight at Evergreen, all while protecting her eyes. Evergreen braced herself for the impact, but it never came. The shield stopped right in front of her face and so did the black-haired mage. She was standing on a chain and holding another one above her for balance as she kept the shield in Evergreen's face.

'Well, at least I have my trump card,' Evergreen smugly thought.

She smirked. "You know, I can just disintegrate those girls I turned into statues."

It was, of course, a bluff, but her opponent didn't need to know that.

The mage kept silent, and Evergreen was starting to feel triumphant, thinking that she managed to fool her.

Oh, was she wrong.

Instead, her opponent, with her eyes closed, dispersed her shield and grabbed Evergreen's wrist.

"I used a lot of magic fighting you," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Good job accomplishing that, at least."

Evergreen simply stared dumbly at her.

"I'll be draining some of yours now," was all she said before Evergreen felt a cold creep up her forearm.

It felt ominous, unpleasant, and she couldn't help but shiver as she felt her magic power leaving her body.

It was an empty feeling, as if a void started to appear within her, growing larger the longer she was drained.

Soon enough, she drifted into the land of unconsciousness.

* * *

I lay Evergreen down on the rooftop and wondered if I drained too much.

'She should recover by tonight if she rests,' I thought as I watched the rise and fall of her chest. 'That bluff of hers…'

I sighed. On the other hand, I was still feeling sore from being struck by lightning.

'Wouldn't that be a story to tell the team…'

I decided to rest for a bit longer, feeling no need to rush in for another fight after defeating a really pesky fairy.

'Titania, huh?' I looked over to Evergreen's prone body. 'She looks the part, at least.'

I thought that 'The Knight' suited Erza better anyway.

* * *

Laxus was seething when the 'game' updated itself and showed the results of the most recent match.

Evergreen had failed, and the hostages back at the guild were released. He didn't think that she was so weak to lose to some no-name mage.

Still, with the entire town as his hostage, he still fortunately had the upper hand. It was all a matter of time before the old geezer handed over the guild.

He couldn't lie though. Laxus was slightly interested in who this 'Aster' was. Whoever it was, was defeating mages left and right before beating Evergreen.

"The peak of the battle is approaching…I can feel it!" He laughed maniacally.

He was going to enjoy it, making them all scream.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Not much to say here, I guess? Feel free to favorite, follow, and review!**

 **See you next time.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Don't worry. I'm still around.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11 - When the Stars Fall**

Lucy looked around, confused as to why the guildhall was empty and why she was still on stage with the rest of the girls who participated in the contest. Her memory was somewhat fuzzy as the last thing she remembered was heading backstage and meeting…

"Who was it, again?" she murmured, mostly to herself as she racked her brain for answers.

She looked to the other girls to see them in a similar state of bewilderment.

"What happened?"

"I can't remember…"

"Lucy!" Happy wailed as he flew in to hug the blonde.

"Happy? What happened to us?"

Happy looked up at her with tears in his eyes. "Evergreen turned you all into stone!"

"She what?!" the other girls exclaimed.

Natsu waved them over and gave them a toothy grin. "Yo! You're back! I was about to melt the stone off of you!"

"…"

Master Makarov ignored the Dragon Slayer's comment in favor of briefly explaining the current situation, and their reactions ranged from shock to anger.

"I'm glad you all are safe," the older man said with a relieved smile. He motioned to Freed's runes which kept him and Natsu trapped in the guildhall, watching as they declared the winner of the latest fight. "It seems Aster has prevailed against Evergreen, freeing you all from her spell."

"Is the Thunder Palace activated for sure?" Cana asked with a grimace.

The Master said through gritted teeth, "Unfortunately."

They rushed upstairs to one of the balconies that overlooked the front of the guildhall and the Master's words rang true.

Mira's eyes widened "I can't believe that he would actually do it."

Lucy dreaded the answer but asked anyway. "What's the Thunder Palace?"

"Those lacrima." Cana pointed at the ones floating all around the city. "They're infused with Lightning Magic. If Laxus activates it…"

"…Magnolia could be destroyed," the Master finished. He sounded angry, but his voice was also laced with hurt.

'Laxus _is_ still a member of the guild, not to mention the Master's grandson,' Lucy reasoned to herself. 'Your own flesh and blood turning their back on you…'

Lucy winced. That thought hit a little too close to home.

"Not if I can help it! **Requip: Sniper Rifle**!" Bisca yelled out, bringing the weapon out and aiming it at one of the closer lacrimas. "Locked on!"

Lucy watched as a green magic circle appeared in front of the barrel of the gun, and just as Bisca was about to take the shot…

" **Stinger Sh-** "

…she was interrupted by what looked like a pitch-black rope latching onto the gun and pulling it over the railing.

"Wh-what?" Bisca managed.

Lucy ran over to the railing to see where the rifle went, only to back up when a figure jumped over and landed in a crouch.

Lucy beamed. "Aster!"

The black-haired mage stood and let out a sigh. "Hey, Lucy," she greeted before tossing Bisca's rifle back to its rightful owner. "Sorry about that."

"Why'd you do that?" Bisca questioned her. "I was about to destroy the lacrima!"

"Wanna know what getting struck by lightning feels like?" Aster countered while holding her prosthetic arm high in the air as Levy reached out towards it in fascination.

No one but Lucy seemed to notice the slight twitch in Aster's right arm as she spoke.

"Huh?"

"Body Link Magic," she simply said.

Cana looked at the lacrimas in disdain. "Really?"

Aster nodded, but Lucy was still confused. "What's Body Link Magic?"

"A spell casted on the lacrima. If you destroy them, the magic energy used in your attack will be reflected back at you," Cana answered before looking back at Aster. "How'd you know the spell was cast?"

She crossed her arms and Lucy noticed that the bandages on her right forearm hung loosely, not tightly wrapped like they usually were. Aster gave them a tired sigh and replied, "Evergreen tricked me so I found out the hard way."

Lucy, as well as the others, looked at her with worried looks. She must've noticed because she waved off their concern.

"I didn't use much magic energy in the attack, so I was fine."

"By the way, how was your mission?" Lucy asked.

Aster gave the contents of her bag a small rattle before responding, "Pretty good. Had to kill a magical chimera, but we got to meet-"

She trailed off as she stared over Lucy's shoulder, right where Natsu was standing. "So that's why I haven't heard of any spontaneous fires starting…" she muttered loud enough for everyone to hear before smirking. "Never thought that you were such a coward, Natsu."

Of course, he got angry and shouted, "Hey, I'm not a coward!"

"I'm joking, don't worry." She gave him a more serious look. "So, why are you here? You didn't participate in the Miss Fairy Tail Contest, did you?"

"No!"

Clearing his throat, Master Makarov grabbed Aster's attention before telling her, "Freed's runes have trapped Natsu and I in the guildhall. We cannot leave."

Aster slowly turned back to the Dragon Slayer and gave him a straight look. "So…you didn't pose in a dress?"

Natsu gave another indignant shout while everyone else laughed at his expense.

"What's with all the noise out here?"

Everyone turned as Gajeel of all people walked out onto the balcony.

"Why are you still here and why are you eating a fork?!"

"I got hungry after my nap," he said with his mouth full.

"Wanna help us find the rest of the Thunder Legion?" Cana tried.

"Nah, not really," he uncaringly said as he turned around to head back inside.

'Jerk,' Lucy thought with a frown.

"You'll get to beat them up if you find them," Aster tried as well.

Gajeel paused, then let out a low chuckle. "Well, why didn't you just say so?"

"Then let's get going," Aster calmly told him before a shadowy tendril wrapped around his ankle and attempted to fling him over the railing and onto the street. Lucy winced as Gajeel's yelp was cut short when he crashed headfirst into an invisible barrier before dropping back down onto the balcony.

"…that played out differently in my head, I swear," Aster told them with a shrug.

Gajeel rubbed his sore head. "What the hell…?"

Suddenly, a horrified look appeared on Master Makarov's face. "Don't tell me YOU'RE over eighty!?"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Gajeel shot back.

"As much as I'd like to know how old he really is, Master, I feel like we should head out now that we've got more help," Aster suggested.

"I can stay here and try to rewrite Freed's runes," Levy told them. "I might be able to get Natsu, Gajeel, and Master out of here."

Everyone seemed to agree with the plan, until Bisca voiced her concerns.

"What do we do about the Thunder Palace?"

Lucy judged the silence to be the answer to that question as she, as well as everyone else, tried to come up with a solution that wouldn't end up with them shocking themselves out of commission.

Aster's voice cut through the silence. "I think I've got an idea." She stared at the floating lacrimas and nodded to herself.

"You're not destroying them, are you?" Lucy inquired.

She chuckled. "As if. I don't really like being shocked to death, thank you very much."

'There it is again,' Lucy noted with concern.

She wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, or if Aster was even aware of it, but the girl's right arm twitched once more.

"Trust me," Aster reassured her.

Lucy wordlessly nodded while everyone gave words of encouragement before setting out into town, heading in different directions to cover more ground. Master Makarov, Natsu, and Gajeel returned indoors with Levy tailing them.

"Are…you okay?" Lucy asked her teammate.

She and Aster were the last ones to leave, but the older girl was simply standing there with her back towards the blonde, staring at the sky full of lacrimas.

Finally, Lucy heard her take a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't like lightning, that's all."

Lucy nodded even though Aster couldn't see.

"Want help replacing the bandages on your arm?" Lucy tried asking.

The shadow mage tilted her head downwards, presumably looking at the semi-wrapped arm, before turning just enough for Lucy to catch a smile that looked…almost sad.

"Thanks…I might take you up on that later," was all she said before vaulting over the railing and taking off into town.

* * *

Scaling the side of a clothing store that was right beneath several of the lacrimas, I tried not to let Lucy's words distract me.

I couldn't help but remember my last torture session, but it was moreso what came after the torture which I was somewhat fond of.

As I reached the roof, I quietly mused, "She's a bit like Ella, isn't she." I was about to entertain that idea when something caught my eye, forcibly prying my attention away from my thoughts.

I squinted my eyes.

Near the edge of town was a stream of water moving upwards into the sky. It kept going until it reached the height of the Thunder Palace and, soon enough, a lacrima was destroyed, the aftermath being quite the shock and a body plummeting to the ground.

'Was that…?' I shook my head before staring straight up at my own objective.

I launched a shadowy tendril up into the sky, making it go higher and higher until it reached the height of the Thunder Palace, and pushed it into the nearest lacrima.

Ikaruga's sword was proof that this had to work.

"I swear, if I get zapped one more time…" I muttered under my breath. However, my doubts dissolved when I felt the magic energy from the lacrima being transferred to me.

And so I decided to speed up the process.

Four more tendrils shot upwards to do the same as the first, each finding their own lacrima to leach magic energy from.

It wasn't long before the first lacrima dropped out of the sky and I wondered, 'Wait…how am I catching these again?'

Thinking quickly, I conjured up a blanket made out of shadows and held it right beneath the falling lacrima. My concentration was still on the other four tendrils, though, since non-physical shadows required more focus.

The lacrima landed and I jolted when my hands almost let go as the blanket dipped before springing back up, letting the lacrima bounce a few times before finally coming to a still.

"Hey!" someone yelled. It seemed directed towards me, so I turned to the street and, whether it was due to my absent-mindedness or something else, only then noticed how most of the townsfolk who were busying themselves along the storefronts - no doubt preparing for the festival - gave me not-so-subtle looks which easily conveyed their suspicion regarding what I was doing.

The shopkeeper that called out to me grinned and continued, "So what're those lacrimas for, anyway?" His smile, which looked like it was meant to come off as easygoing, was betrayed by the way his shoulders tensed and the wariness that laced his voice.

"Fairy Tail was planning on using them for the festival, but decided against it, so I'm just here to retrieve them," I told him with a friendly smile.

He seemed to relax, as well as everyone else who was staring or eavesdropping, before saying, "Well, good luck with that… Let us know if you need any help!"

"Will do!" I waved goodbye as he got back to whatever he was doing before interrupting me.

My smile thinned and I let out an exasperated sigh. I placed the lacrima on the roof where I stood, and looked up just in time to see the other four lacrimas, now devoid of magic energy, falling just like the first.

"Oh, crap."

* * *

I hauled a couple large, shadowy sacs filled with empty lacrimas as I moved on to the next area which happened to be near the river. I could tell there was a fight going on by the lightshow in the sky but I couldn't tell who was actually fighting. Just then, a giant explosion darkened the sky, literally, for a few seconds before it subsided.

'Darkness Magic?' I guessed. 'The only one I know who uses it is Simon… Maybe this is where he's been all this time.'

That was all I managed to contemplate before arriving on the scene.

"What the hell happened here…?" I asked no one in particular.

A bridge was mostly destroyed, the debris littering the river, and the rocky terrain was riddled with more craters than I bothered to count. What's more, there was some white-haired, demon-looking person straddling some poor green-haired guy who looked like he was staring death right in the face.

Granted, the demon's fist was paused right in front of _his_ face…so maybe that was an accurate assessment.

'That demon almost looks li-' I never managed to finish that thought before the demon transformed into a slightly beat-up Mira. She got off of the guy and kneeled next to him before speaking. She went on about allies and friendship and how this fight was meaningless.

To be completely honest, I tuned her out in favor of focusing on what I came here to do. All I knew was that her speech ended in waterworks from both parties.

I headed over to Mira's brother, who held an unconscious Juvia in his arms, and Cana since they happened to be standing below a few of my 'objectives'.

I quirked a brow when I noticed the state they were in. Bruises, scrapes, and Juvia looked like she was electrocuted.

'Guess that was her earlier…'

They noticed me and I felt the corner of my mouth twitch upwards. "So…who kicked your asses?"

* * *

Mira helped Freed to his feet and helped him along as they moved towards the group, which now included a very amused Aster.

She saw Cana frown, but it disappeared when she tiredly sighed and motioned towards the Rune Magic user. "Freed…was difficult."

A look of recognition appeared on Aster's face. "Oh, so that's him."

"Yeah…"

Aster hummed in thought before switching topics with a smirk. "By the way, Mira, I never knew you were such a badass. That explosion earlier was yours, wasn't it?"

Mira let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, thanks. Though I haven't used my magic since…" Her voice dropped off and her expression fell. Cana and Elfman gave her worried looks, both knowing the reason why she stopped being a mage.

She let a small smile grace her lips.

"I haven't used my magic for a couple years now."

Much to Mira's thanks, Aster didn't pry, though the mirth in her eyes seemed to dim a bit as she let out a short, contemplative hum before walking a few paces past them. It was then that they noticed that the girl was dragging what looked like two very large black bags.

"So," Cana started. "What have you been up to, Aster?"

She gave one of the bags a slight shake and they heard what sounded like…glass?

"Just taking out the trash."

"Huh?"

Said girl turned towards her with a quirked eyebrow and asked, "You haven't noticed?"

Mira was perplexed, and so was everyone else from the looks on their faces. "Noticed what?"

She rested the large bags onto the ground and rolled her shoulders before pointing in a certain direction.

They all stared, including Freed. Eyes widened and a collective gasp was heard while Aster simply chuckled.

"Guess you were all too wrapped up in this mess to see it, but notice anything different?" she jokingly asked.

More than a third of the Thunder Palace was gone.

Mira forced her eyes away in favor of looking at the shadow mage, who sported a self-satisfied grin, for answers. "How…?"

She snapped her fingers and the black bags faded away, revealing their contents to the others when they turned to face her as well. Mira gaped at the lacrimas that spilled all over the ground, a few of them cracked and even shattered.

This time it was Cana who asked, "How did you…?"

She simply pointed upwards before shadowy tendrils shot out from beneath her and towards the sky.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Freed croaked out, still thoroughly beaten during his fight. "You will only hurt your-"

The words seemed to die in his throat when he saw the tendrils pass right through the lacrimas and hold their positions.

"Hey Elfman," Aster called over. "Put Juvia down for a bit, yeah?"

"Uh, why?" he asked but did as he was told.

She flicked her head towards the Thunder Palace. "I could use some help catching those, and you look pretty strong."

He adopted a prideful look as he flexed his muscles. "That's 'cause I'm a MAN!"

Aster nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah. That. I don't feel like accidentally breaking my fingers tryin-"

Heads turned at her sudden silence until she let out a groan.

"Can't believe I didn't think of that," Mira heard her mutter before instructing, louder this time, "Elfman, you're responsible for those three." She pointed. "And I'll take the other two."

Elfman grunted in response, positioning himself next to their black-haired companion.

Mira watched, fascinated, as the lacrimas started falling in no particular order. Following Aster's instructions, Elfman easily caught one in each hand before gently dropping one to catch the third. The shadows dissipated and a soft glow emanated from Aster's arms before she, too, easily caught two lacrimas.

"Thanks," Aster thanked her helper and pointed to the pile. "You can put those with the rest of them."

Mira didn't know how to feel at the moment.

Confused? Maybe.

Amazed? Probably.

Curious? Definitely.

Granted, all she knew about Aster's magic was that she used Shadow and Strength. Not knowing the extent of which she could use them, she was bound to be surprised here and there.

Mira looked at her other guildmates and saw the same emotions written all over their faces.

Aster chuckled. "Neat, huh?"

"Again, how did you…?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "Not telling. Gotta let a girl keep some secrets, you know."

A secret?

Pure, unadulterated curiosity took over Mira's bewilderment as her inner gossip demanded her to pester the newer member.

Said member reformed a dark bag and started packing away the lacrimas while the rest of them just stood there and stared.

"So…how come you only had two bags?" Cana asked after a few moments of silence.

Without looking, Aster asked back, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, there has to be at least a hundred of them gone right now, but I don't see them with you…"

"Oh…they're around town, piled up in alleyways and all that," she answered flippantly. "I'll clean them up later."

"…"

"…"

She conjured up another bag and threw it in front of them. "…I _could_ use some help, you know."

* * *

"YOU BETTER MAKE IT BACK ALIVE, YOU HEAR ME?!"

'Don't worry, I promise I won't throw away the life you and the others fought so hard to save,' Erza thought with a soft smile.

Leaving Natsu to deal with Laxus at the cathedral, she ran down the cobblestone path along the surprisingly quiet street, all while staring upwards at their current predicament.

Erza noticed it. It was hard not to.

Earlier, when searching for Laxus, she watched as the finger-like shadows rose up into the sky, each one plucking a lacrima out of the air and letting it fall to the ground before the shadows dissipated, only to reappear below another set of lacrimas.

The process repeated itself again and again until Erza saw more than two thirds of the Thunder Palace absent from the sky.

She grinned knowingly, but it quickly turned into a frown when she reminded herself of the issue.

Laxus had grown impatient and set a timer. He was minutes away from activating the Thunder Palace and she had yet to warn anyone.

To make sure no one destroyed the lacrimas, everyone was already warned about the Body Link Magic thanks to Warren's telepathy, but…

Aster wasn't going to make it in time.

'Erza, how's the situation on your end?' Simon's voice suddenly sounded in her head.

'Simon!' Erza slowed down her pace to a light jog. 'I need you to let the others know that the Thunder Palace will be activated in several minutes!'

A slight pause.

'My Telepathy Magic isn't strong enough to contact that many people. I'll get Warren to patch you through to the others.'

'Alright.' Erza sighed and scanned the street before her, searching for any of her guildmates but coming up empty.

'Erza!' Warren spoke through the telepathic link a few moments later. 'Everyone who's still conscious can hear you now.'

'Every-' was all Erza could get out before a multitude of voices suddenly came through the link, cutting her off.

'What the hell is going on?!'

'Listen, th-' Erza tried before getting cut off again.

'Has anyone found Laxus yet?'

'He's in th-'

'Warren, we've got more injured here!'

'What's happening to the Thunder Palace?!'

'…'

Erza massaged her temple in frustration as she tried to maintain any semblance of order with little success.

'SHUT. UP. PLEASE!' a loud voice silenced the rest. 'Thank you. Erza, you were saying.'

She sighed in relief. 'Thank you, Aster. Everyone, there isn't much time until the Thunder Palace activates. We have several minutes at most, so we need to deal with the rest of the lacrimas quickly.'

'I was too late, huh?'

'Don't worry, you've drastically lessened the burden on the rest of us.' Erza smiled gratefully, though no one could see it. 'You have our thanks.'

'…right, so what's the plan?'

'I…don't have one,' Erza admitted. 'The only way we can stop the Thunder Palace from activating…'

'…is if we destroy it ourselves,' Aster finished.

'But then…' That sounded like Lucy.

'We'll be risking ourselves.'

'Aster, can't you drain them all at once?'

'No, if I really concentrate, the maximum I can do is maybe fifteen.'

'Then it looks like our only option will be to destroy them,' Erza told them. 'Everyone, get under a lacrima and prepare to destroy it before time runs out. Aster, I know you've already done so much, but can you continue to drain the Thunder Palace to minimize the risk?'

There was a slight pause. 'You got it,' she confirmed. 'Hey, everyone, if the lacrima you're standing under has a shadow going through it, prepare for it to drop. I'll be rushing so I won't be catching them myself.'

Sounds of affirmation were heard from everyone, so Erza decided to finalize the plan by instructing, 'Remember, since Body Link Magic is casted on the lacrimas, use the minimum amount of magic energy to destroy them. That'll lessen the damage you take.'

'Alright people, you heard her. Get moving!' Aster commanded. 'Warren, cut your connection to me. I need to concentrate.'

'You got it!'

Erza watched as more of Aster's shadows rose, amounting to fifteen as they started the draining process.

And so, Erza prepared herself as well. Requipping into her Heaven's Wheel armor, she conjured up more than a couple dozen swords and aimed them at the Thunder Palace.

If she needed to take more damage than her comrades to lessen their burdens, then so be it.

Time ticked. Lacrimas fell; shadows rose.

Erza watched them carefully, silently praying that no one would get seriously injured when the time came.

Aster was in the middle of draining her third group when it happened. Lightning crackled around the remaining lacrimas and Warren was soon warning everyone through the telepathic link.

'Uh…they're activating!'

'Destroy them now!' Erza ordered as she let her swords fly.

'Right!' 'Roger!' 'On it!'

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aster's shadows retract for a brief moment, before clawing through the fifteen lacrimas they were previously draining.

She watched as her comrades' many spells were released upwards into the air, creating an almost picturesque scene as colorful attacks of different magics streaked through the sky towards the Palace.

Any sense of tranquil beauty the scene once had was ruptured by the multitude of exploding lacrimas when the spells found their marks.

Scanning the sky, Erza let out a relieved sigh when she didn't see a single lacrima left floating after their bombardment.

And so she stood there, awaiting the agonizing pain that was sure to follow.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Sorry about the delay. Besides life, I've been reading a lot (and by a lot, I mean too many) of other stories on this site and such heh.**

 **Fixed a very minor detail in the last chapter since I rewatched this part in the anime and realized that the Thunder Palace is made up of around three hundred lacrimas (silly me).**

 **Don't think I need to say this since you readers have probably already noticed, but chapter lengths may vary since I don't have a set length or word limit/minimum.**

 **Follow, favorite, and/or review if you want to, thank you if you have already, and I'll catch you all in the next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** **Think I'm way past the point where a simple apology for the wait is acceptable…but hey, finally found the time to finish this! Spent some time rewriting it, but I think I'm happy with how it turned out.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

 **Chapter 12 - To Me**

 _I padded along the corridor, the dull sound of my shoes against the tiles being the only thing I could hear at the moment. Even after being there for a year, I never got used to how…empty the facility felt._

 _I let out a yawn still thinking about the previous day. We were tested on the limits of our magic capabilities and everyone, understandably, felt immensely drained by the end of it._

 _I passed by a door with the nameplate crossed out, and without pause, I continued towards the main room._

' _I think that guy died during the fourth month…' I mused. 'Unfortunate, though no one's died in the past two months, so that has to show some kind of progress.'_

 _It was true. The number of deaths had been dwindling until it finally reached zero._

' _Everyone's cautious. No one wants their name to be called the next day during the morning gathering…though since they're dead, I guess they wouldn't hear it anyway.'_

 _I turned a corner and the metal door leading to the main room was in sight. I shifted my mask, making sure it was proper before leaving my wing._

 _The automatic door opened and closed as I walked through. Scanning the large, rectangular room, I saw some others milling about, no doubt waiting for Doc to start._

 _Living in different wings, I searched for Ella and Juno but couldn't find them. I guessed that they were amongst the ones still arriving._

 _A few more minutes passed before Doc, a Master Assassin, and a few Seniors walked in. They took to the center at the front of the room and, just like most other mornings, instructed everyone to line up in rows._

 _I looked around while taking a spot in the second last row before feeling a tap on my left shoulder._

 _I looked over to see Ella stepping into place next to me with a happy 'good morning'._

" _You and Juno live in the north wing, right? You know where she is?" I asked in a hushed voice._

" _Nope," she responded, equally quiet. "She probably woke up later than us. She_ was _one of the last ones tested after all."_

" _True."_

 _There was a short lull before Ella piped up once again. "Doc's been showing up basically every day for the past few months, hasn't he?"_

"… _he has." I wasn't sure what to make of that, really. "Maybe he started showing up once he knew there were only promising trainees left."_

" _Or maybe h-"_

 _Ella went silent when the sound of shuffling feet stopped. Once it did, Doc put on a smile and raised his arms in a grand gesture of some sort._

" _Congratulations!" his loud voice reverberated around the room. "You all are standing here, because you have passed the first half of training."_

 _The reactions were obvious. A couple backs straighter. A few chins higher._

 _Not that I blamed them…I felt elated, too._

" _Of course, not without the passing of a few of your fellow trainees."_

 _I stifled a dark chuckle. A 'few' was an understatement, seeing as there were less than sixty percent of us left._

" _However, you should not allow these deaths to dampen your spirits."_

 _Heads turned, looking for anyone missing from the group._

" _Eri Foste."_

 _A couple audible gasps somewhere to my right._

 _How and when did anyone die?_

" _Ryst Dellova."_

 _No reaction, at least from what I heard._

 _I pondered it further. The only way for someone to die was if…_

" _Juno Hara."_

* * *

My eyes shot open, a familiar-looking alleyway fading into my vision as I tried to remember how I passed out. Luckily, the buzz in my head told me all I needed to know.

'Oh, right.' I destroyed the lacrimas, then ducked into an alley to avoid the townspeople.

I chuckled inwardly. 'It would've been quite a shock to them, huh.'

Trying to ignore the pain in my…well, everything, I propped myself up against the brick wall while I held my head in my right palm and stared at my left.

'Does this affect the prosthetic?' I wondered as I examined it closer. 'I don't actually know how it was made… I should ask Porlyusica about it later.'

Lowering my arms and clenching my fist with a sigh, I grabbed my right arm in an attempt to calm the shaking that had taken over it.

I leaned back and took a deep breath before dragging myself to my feet with a groan. My legs felt so numb that I almost immediately fell over, but I managed to keep my balance by grabbing on to a few crates that were stacked up to my right.

I should've rested up. Maybe lie down and take a nap.

But boredom pulled me to my feet.

'I'll rest when I find something more interesting to look at than a dirty alleyway… I've seen enough of those in my life.'

I looked to my left and saw a couple dozen drained lacrimas strewn all over the ground, as well as my dirt-covered bag which contained the chimera's scales.

I grunted as I pulled the bag over my shoulder and began staggering my way out of the alley.

The shadowy bags that held the lacrimas probably disappeared when I fell unconscious.

I looked back at the scattered magicless orbs. "Guess I'll clean those up later," I muttered.

It wasn't like anyone was gonna find them.

* * *

I absentmindedly trudged past a few busy streets, unnoticed and unbothered.

'Haven't seen any other guild members so far,' I noted as I crossed another bustling street and entered another alleyway. I seemed to leave the crowds behind as their sounds got quieter and quieter until I could barely hear them. 'Would've been nice to fight one of the stronger members earlier, but whatever.'

Exiting the alley, I came across a street that looked like it was already prepared for the festival. I looked around, taking in all the decorated signs and storefronts, before noticing something red in the corner of my vision.

I turned and gave a wry smile as I sluggishly approached a clothing store in particular.

I asked a rhetorical question to the redhead sitting on the ground in front of me. "What's got you so worn out?"

Erza looked up at me, the fatigue clear in her eyes but not hiding the amusement in them.

"Who knows," she began, leaning her head back against the store's window. "Did you, by chance, collapse?"

I didn't need a mirror to know that I was in a similar state as her.

"Who knows," I repeated after her as I slid down the wall to her right. "The world may never find out."

I gave a long, weary sigh as I closed my eyes to rest them.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked, concern lacing her voice. "You were shocked twice by the Thunder Palace, weren't you?"

"That's two times too many…" I quipped, eyes still closed. "How about you? Didn't you destroy a bunch of them?"

When my question was met with silence, I cracked my left eye open and peered over to my companion. Erza's forehead was scrunched in what looked like concentration for nearly half a minute before her eyes widened and she shakily started to push herself up to her feet.

"What're you doing?" I questioned.

"I need to go see Master Makarov! He's deathly ill and…" Her eyes drooped.

With my remaining strength, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. "You're gonna collapse before you even reach the guildhall."

"But-"

"They don't need another occupied bed in the infirmary." She still seemed hesitant, so I added, "Besides, don't you have a guild healer or something? If anything, Porlyusica will be able to help him."

My hand dropped to my side when she finally relaxed. "I suppose…"

My arms felt numb and I could no longer move them. "Don't think I can stop you if you get up again…."

I felt my body finally succumbing to fatigue as my eyes started to close. "…a nap sounds nice…right about now," I murmured.

"Yes…that does sound rather pleasant…"

Fate seemed to have something else in mind as an intense pillar of light appeared above the cathedral, forming what looked like a large, rotating magic circle.

I squinted. "What the hell?"

Erza didn't seem as affected by the literal sun that glared down on us since her eyes widened instead of screwing shut.

"Fairy Law…" I heard her murmur. "Laxus…"

I threw her a sideways glance, slightly concerned. "Fairy Law?"

"A spell that destroys everyone the caster sees as their enemy." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "To think Laxus would go this far…"

'What kind of overpowered shit is that?'

My eyes darted back to the still-spinning magic circle. "That…sounds pretty bad."

"It is…" She let out a defeated sigh. "…but it appears we can't do anything about it in our conditions."

"By conditions, you mean paralysis?" I half-joked. "'Cause I can't move a single muscle right now…"

The magic circle quickly expanded as the light escalated from bright to blinding, engulfing everything and everyone beneath it.

I shut my eyes, and waited.

And waited.

"…"

What was I even waiting for? Pain? Death?

"…"

After a few more moments, I was met with nothing but silence.

I wanted nothing more than to keep my eyes closed and sleep, but out of curiosity, I opened them halfway to find out what happened.

The blinding light was gone, and so was the magic circle.

I looked towards Erza only to catch her half-lidded gaze before her eyes slowly closed.

"It seems as though Laxus' spell failed," she quietly uttered.

"Right…" I murmured even quieter. No longer paying attention, I slowly started to close my own eyes before feeling a weight on my shoulder, causing me to internally sigh.

I briefly registered the soft, steady breathing to my left before drawing my eyes closed.

I thought about it, I really did. My daggers were in my vest and strapped to my thighs, the street was completely deserted, and the target was fast asleep right next to me.

It wasn't really my style, but any assassin would kill to be in a similar scenario.

Though there was a…slight drawback as I sleepily ran the details of the mission, received during the briefing, through my head.

No body. No witnesses. No collateral damage. Obviously, there were circumstances that needed adjustments to the criteria but…

My muscles were screaming at me to rest, reminding me of the _small_ problem that currently plagued my body. Even if I were able to move, I wouldn't get very far after killing Erza. With practically no magic, I wouldn't even have the strength to carry the body with me. I'd collapse somewhere not too far, I'd risk the body being discovered, and then I'd be found shortly after.

Mission failed.

'Probably could've just threw a dagger at her when I walked out of the alley.' I inwardly chuckled at the thought. 'Wouldn't change anything, though…'

"…"

It was peaceful, at least. I tiredly remembered myself mentioning something about a nap, and so I started to lull myself to sleep by humming a simple tune. Its origin was forgotten…

…but it reminded me of the meadow back home.

* * *

 _One thought coursed through my mind as Doc continued detailing the day's training._

'… _what…?'_

" _One hour of basic hand-to-hand to warm up before breakfast. After that…" he continued._

 _I snapped my head to my left._

 _Standing stock-still with her lips parted in silent shock and her eyes wide and unfocused, Ella stared straight ahead at nothing in particular._

 _Doc finished and, at the command of the Master Assassin by his side, the trainees began to disperse in favor of gaining a little extra room to move._

 _I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ella, training's starting," I said with slight urgency, ignoring the way my voice wavered._

 _She turned her head my way and it strained my heart when I saw her broken expression._

" _Ella, you can't do this…not now, at least…" Her eyes fell to the floor before I gently lifted her chin so that they would once again meet mine. "Look at me…please…" I now had both my hands on her shoulders. "Train now, cry later, okay? Make it through the hour, and then you can mourn all you want. Can you do that for me?" I pleaded._

 _Tears had already welled up in her eyes, but after a few moments, she gave a subdued nod._

 _I nodded reassuringly in return. "Okay," I simply said while briefly looking around. "Come on, let's start."_

 _When breakfast rolled around, we didn't head to the cafeteria like usual. Instead, we retreated to my room in the west wing where we at least had some semblance of privacy._

 _The door had barely closed behind us before the dam broke and Ella fell to her knees. Not bothering to turn on the lights, I knelt down beside her and drew her into my arms. It was a feeble attempt to comfort her, as her shaking body was already racked with uncontrollable sobs._

 _Trying my hardest but doing little to calm her, I ran my fingers through her hair as she wept, her hands clutching the back of my training suit harder as the tears pressed on._

 _I buried my face in the crook of her neck, hiding my face as I silently cried._

 _Time passed as we knelt there in each other's arms, grieving over our lost friend. Ella was reduced to a small hiccup every few seconds, and, while my tears had dried, I never tried to let go._

" _Why…why…why…" Ella's soft voice broke through my tearful haze._

 _I said nothing in return._

* * *

 _The following day, Ella changed. When she greeted me, her voice sounded stiff, unlike her usual jovial tone, and her blue eyes that typically sparkled with joy were now dulled. She stuck close to me, but she spoke a lot less, seemingly thinking before saying anything instead of rambling like she did before. Having little to no appetite, she simply sat with me in the cafeteria with little on her tray or with no tray at all. During training, she lacked energy, her movements becoming significantly less fluid than they once were, making it often that she fell behind the rest of the children._

 _Her missing mask was what stood out most._

 _When I questioned her about it, she gave me a faint smile and simply said, "I don't need it anymore."_

 _I didn't understand what she meant, but I accepted her answer nonetheless and moved on._

 _The next day was the same._

 _So was the next._

 _And the one after that._

 _I had already noticed Doc and the Master Assassin eyeing her during training, and a couple Seniors warning her about her deteriorating skills._

 _But she continued, unfazed through it all. Continued with her low effort as if…_

 _As if she gave up._

 _At that realization, I grew increasingly concerned and…irritated. At this rate, the next test was sure to kill her._

' _What's she thinking?!'_

 _And so, five days after Juno died, I confronted Ella during our sparring period late in the afternoon._

 _As soon as we were given instructions on what to focus on, I hurriedly grabbed Ella's wrist and pulled her over to the corner of the room._

" _What's the ru-" she started but I interrupted her._

" _Let's spar."_

 _Once we took up a spot, I let go of her wrist and turned to face her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the other children had paired up and also moved to space themselves out._

 _Ella had a blank look as she stared at me, obviously uninterested in whatever was going on around her._

" _So, was there a specific way you wan-"_

 _I never let her finish._

 _Without warning, I grabbed her by the collar and simultaneously punched her in the stomach…really, really hard._

 _She gasped and wheezed really loudly, and if I wasn't holding her up, she would've fallen to the floor in a coughing fit._

 _I brought her face close to mine and whispered harshly in her ear, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"_

" _W-what?" she managed before another cough took her over._

" _You're getting yourself killed, you know that?" I clarified._

 _She looked lost for a split second before her eyes marginally widened._

 _My next question was obvious. "Why?"_

 _She opened her mouth but ultimately stayed silent._

" _Why?" I asked again._

"… _I'm scared…" Even with my head next to hers, the response was so quiet that I barely heard it._

" _Of what?"_

"… _of losing you."_

 _My eyes softened before narrowing. "And so you're letting yourself die."_

 _"I don't want to live with that fear anymore…"_

 _Admittedly, the first word that came to mind was 'coward', but I couldn't say it._

 _I just couldn't._

 _I thought for a few seconds before finally saying, "Then I'll become the strongest."_

 _She shifted her face so that her wide eyes could see me more clearly. "Huh?"_

" _I'll get so strong that you won't even have to worry about me," I determinedly said. "Your fear will be gone before you know it, and you'll be left with envy 'cause of how strong I'll be." I made sure that she saw my smirk._

 _She let out a bitter chuckle before murmuring, "Juno was strong, too…"_

 _My voice never wavered, and neither did my resolve. "Then I'll be stronger than her, too. I'll be smarter, and faster, and I'll train harder than she ever did."_

"…"

"…"

" _Promise?"_

" _I'll promise you only if you promise me that you'll get stronger too," I told her my condition. "I'm shit at making friends, so you can't leave me here alone, you know."_

 _She seemed unsure._

" _Besides, I'll need_ someone _to brag to when I become the strongest assassin."_

 _That finally got a genuine smile out of her, and as small as it was, it was a start._

" _So, we got a deal?"_

 _There was a split second pause before she nodded. "Yeah, we do."_

" _Good."_

" _I'll hold you to that, you know." When I looked at her, confused, she clarified, "You becoming the strongest assassin, that is…"_

 _Becoming the strongest assassin sounded impossible, but I told her I'd do it, and I didn't plan on taking it back either._

 _So for both of our sakes…_

" _If I don't, and you're too scared to go on, then we'll just run away together."_

* * *

I sat on one of the many beds in the guild's infirmary, with Porlyusica sitting on a stool in front of me and Master Makarov on a bed across the room. Since Porlyusica was already here when I arrived, I decided to have her do a little checkup on my arm, but I was apparently worried about nothing.

"Are you experiencing any phantom pains?" she asked.

"No," I told her. "The surgeons did a really good job."

"Good."

That…was basically the extent of her questioning, though I didn't doubt that she knew I used it in a fight.

She inspected my arm for a few more minutes as I listened to the muffled, joyous cheers of the other members partying in the main hall. However, a sudden quietness had me looking at the door, wondering what had stopped the rambunctious guild. The silence lasted not even a minute as it was replaced with what sounded like angry shouts.

"What's going on out there?" I asked no one in particular.

Porlyusica let out an exasperated sigh. "Someone probably started a fight again."

The shouting stopped, and I was sure that I heard Erza's voice afterwards, but I couldn't make out what she said. Soon enough, the rowdy guild seemed to resume the party as if nothing happened.

My eyes drifted back down to my prosthetic arm before snapping back up when the door opened.

"Well…ain't that a surprise," I muttered loud enough for Laxus to hear.

"Your arm looks to be fine," Porlyusica commented, directing my attention back to her. "I'll be taking my leave now."

She stood up, stared at Laxus for a few moments, then left with a sigh.

Laxus' eyes trailed after her for a brief moment before locking on to me. Understanding the message, I stretched my arms before hopping off the bed.

"Guess I'll go join the others. Be sure to rest up, Master." I paused in my step before continuing. "And get well soon."

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Aster."

Closing the door on my way out, I left the infirmary and made my way to the main hall. Briefly wondering what Laxus' punishment would be, I padded the hardwood floor of the empty hallway as the party got louder and louder.

When I reached the main hall, it was exactly how I imagined it to be. There was a lot of loud chatter, a lot of noisy drinkers, as well as a rowdy brawl that had already started on one side of the large room. Empty mugs and plates lay around as Mira hurriedly cleaned them up while still being able to bring out more drinks.

I spotted Levy along with the rest of her team as I scanned the party looking for mine. Her teammates seemed to be talking animatedly with her as she laughed, though I didn't stare for too long in case she turned my way.

'Not like it really makes a difference whether or not she's Doc's informant,' I mused. 'I'm just doing my job.'

Someone slung an arm around my shoulder. "Hey, Aster!"

I rolled my eyes and saw the mug in the person's hand. "Cana, your breath reeks of alcohol. How much did you drink?"

"Don't worry about it!"

"She's had a few already…" Lucy nervously said as she walked up to us.

"A few mugs?" I asked.

"A few barrels," Lucy confirmed.

"Oh." I looked over to the obviously drunken girl who hiccupped. "You know, alcohol poisoning is real."

"Oh, c'mon!" she whined. "Not you too!"

"Not much point in telling her to stop if you ask me," Gray piped up. "She'll just drink when we're not looking."

"You know it!"

Erza walked over and asked, "How is it?"

Slightly confused, I asked back, "How's what?"

"Your arm."

"Oh, Porlyusica said that it looked fine to her, and she surprisingly didn't ask much."

Erza wore a faint smile. "Well, that's good."

"That's a relief!" Levy suddenly chirped from my left, making me slightly jump.

"God, Levy, where'd you come from?!"

"I just wanted to see if _this_ was alright!" she exclaimed as she practically cradled my prosthetic arm.

"You get way too excited about these things," Gray mentioned.

"Or you're just not getting excited enough," she retorted as she…

'Did she just _caress_ my arm?' I inwardly shivered.

"Levy, this prosthetic has a body, you know," I deadpanned, slowly moving the metallic limb out of her reach.

"Huh?" She looked confused before sheepishly apologizing. "Oh, right…sorry…"

"Anyway," Cana started. "You're gonna be in the parade with us tonight, right?"

"Wait, what? Aren't I a little too new?"

"Nah! Even Juvia's gonna be in it!" she happily stated.

Putting on a meek smile, I confessed, "Sorry, I…uh, I don't do well with all that attention…"

"Oh, c'mon…it'll be fun!" she promised. "You gotta participate in your first Fantasia Parade!"

"I…I can't." I tried to look as apologetic as I could. "Sorry…"

"Aw, no worries. We'll miss you though!" she reassured, guzzling down the rest of her alcohol before stumbling away to presumably find more.

"Will you at least come watch?" Erza asked.

"Of course I will." I beamed at her. "Wouldn't wanna miss seeing you all in weird getups, would I?"

A warm chuckle. "No, I didn't think you would."

"Well, I took a look at the costumes, and Lucy and I are definitely gonna be cheerleaders!" Levy proclaimed.

"You are?"

"We are?"

I gave Lucy a questioning stare as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

"I mean…I was told that I was participating, like, a few minutes ago," she clarified before her eyes widened in horror. "Oh god, I haven't practiced! Then again, I don't even know what I'm supposed to be practicing…"

"Don't worry, you've still got a few hours before it starts," I assured her. "Besides, I don't think they made the choreography _too_ complicated."

Lucy shot a hopeful look towards Levy who simply flashed a smile in return.

"C'mon." Levy started pulling Lucy away while waving us goodbye. "I'll show you what we've worked on so far."

We stared after them until they disappeared into the crowd. I let my eyes wander again and found a heavily bandaged Natsu butting heads with an equally bandaged Gajeel and a very irate Gray.

I tapped on Erza's shoulder and pointed at the two injured Dragon Slayers.

"They're not participating like that, are they?"

Her smile was full of mirth. "I'm not too sure about Gajeel, but I know for certain that Natsu will find his way into the parade somehow."

"Doesn't seem like the kinda guy who wants to miss out," I added without thought before devolving into silence.

'Might be the most reckless and carefree party I've been to.' I ducked under a mug that flew in my direction. 'Though that bar a few years ago might be a close second…'

Stuck in my own musings, I quietly watched the rambunctious guild continue on with the party. It was an interesting part of the job, going to so many different places and meeting different people. Not always pleasant, but interesting nonetheless.

"Ahem."

My thoughts abruptly ended when Erza audibly cleared her throat.

She gave me a sidelong glance. "Lucy mentioned earlier that you might want help rebandaging your arm."

* * *

It was a thrill, it always was, dancing on a float in front of the largest crowd Magnolia has seen all year.

To Erza, it marked another year spent with the guild and her friends.

Her family.

Holding her scimitars, she twirled in her - as Aster put it - 'pretty revealing' outfit, dancing to the beat of the fireworks that pounded away at her ear drums. Her eyes wandered over the cheering masses as she halted her spinning in favor of doing another demonstration with her swords. She spotted Milliana, Shô, and Wally waving excitedly at her as Simon stood smiling behind them. Her childhood friend contemplated participating in the parade, but couldn't find a way to use his magic festively, and so opted to watch with the others. She waved back and scanned the crowd again, all while making her swords dance around her. While throwing another sword into the mix, movement from one of the rooftops caught the corner of her eye. Turning her head ever so slightly, she found Aster seated there, watching the parade from above.

Their eyes met, and Erza's smile widened slightly as she waved. Aster sent a small wave back, and, thanks to the many glimmering decorations that floated along the street, she could just make out the relaxed smile that adorned her face.

She wanted to show Aster how enjoyable it was being in the parade. So, with added vigor, she continued on with her dancing and demonstrations.

'Perhaps, next year, she'll consider participating.'

None of the events she'd been to in the past had been this big…or loud…or crowded.

* * *

As Erza's float passed her by, she wondered how the guild could just bounce back from having their town nearly destroyed. Though, from what she could tell in the time she'd been a member, it kinda made sense that they would.

At least they weren't boring, unlike some of the missions she'd been on.

She watched Gray and Juvia use their magics to beautifully spell out the guild's name as the crowd cheered them on and a thought occurred to her. 'Doc seems like someone who would send us out on boring missions just to test our patience.'

Not that it really mattered.

To her, each mission was like a different life she had to live, and not every life was as interesting or action-packed as her current one.

But she was fine with that.

Natsu spit fire upwards, spelling out the guild's name in flames that seemed brighter than the sparkling decorations that lined the sky, Elfman's roars from several floats away sounded louder than the fireworks above, and on the last float of them all, was Master Makarov…

…doing a weird dance in an even weirder outfit.

Aster stifled a chuckle as she watched him wave his arms up and down while the crowd roared in laughter and applause.

Yep…this was fine, too.

* * *

Laxus stared at his outstretched thumb and index finger, wiping away his remaining tears as he strode through the presumably empty alleyway.

Of course gramps was gonna include that salute in the parade; Laxus should've known.

Not that it mattered now. He was exiled, the parade went off without a hitch, and he convinced the Thunder Legion to not follow him.

He was ready to leave. He planned on using his exile wisely. To think about his path, and to maybe learn a thing or two about the meaning of 'home'.

Suddenly stumbling over an object but catching himself in time, he looked down and saw a cracked lacrima by his feet.

"What the…" He looked up and his eyes widened. A couple hundred lacrimas were scattered around the rest of the large alley with more than a few sacs lying around and a note pinned to the wall with a knife.

He ripped his only hint off of the wall and started reading.

"Laxus, since you're already leaving, take your trash with you, 'cause I don't wanna clean it up… And leave the knife. That's mine. Aster."

He couldn't help but smirk.

Looking around at the mess, he wondered how he was gonna transport all of them out of Magnolia, and figured that it was gonna take several trips.

But he didn't find himself minding one bit.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I'm not gonna make any promises on when the next chapter will come out, but it'll come out…eventually.**

 **See you all in the next one.**


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